Name of Monument:

Spanish Steps

Location:

Rome, Latium, Italy

Date:

1723–26

Artists:

Francesco De Sanctis

Denomination / Type of monument:

Stairway

Patron(s):

French Crown

History:

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, the church of the French nation located on the top of the Pincio hill, was connected through steep paths to the lively district below that had flourished around Piazza di Spagna. In the 1660s the French Crown had allocated 10,000 scudi, later raised to 20,000 at the beginning of the following century, for the construction of a stairway between the church and Piazza di Spagna. In 1660, at the time of Cardinal Mazarin, Gian Lorenzo Bernini proposed a project that introduced for the first time the idea of a stairway articulated in a series of curvilinear ramps interrupted by resting areas in place of a rectilinear and rectangular stairway (such as those of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven known as Aracoeli or at the Capitoline Hill cordonata). However, the project was set aside by Pope Alexander VII, who did not like the idea of the French occupying such a large portion of land. It was only at the beginning of the 18th century, under Clement XI, that a competition was launched. The competitors were Alessandro Specchi (who held the title of Architect of the Roman People and was known for having designed the now the lost Port of Ripetta, which deployed a similar articulation in curvilinear ramps), Francesco De Sanctis (architect of the Minims of the Trinità dei Monti) and Alessandro Gaulli.
On the death of Clement XI, the new Pope Innocent XIII and the friars of Trinità dei Monti chose De Sanctis’s project, which was carried out between 1723 and 1726 and was partly inspired, though with some variations, to the Berninian design. One of the main reasons why De Sanctis’s stairway was chosen was its being perfectly visible in all its parts (allowing therefore to be properly controlled) both from below and from above, thus guaranteeing respect for public order.

Description:

The stairway is dynamically structured, fragmented into a series of curvilinear segments, and paused by a large central square. The fluidity of the lines, totally devoid of angles, aim at recalling a waterfall: indeed, it almost simulates the fall of the water along the slopes of the Pincio, ideally ending in the Fontana della Barcaccia by Pietro Bernini, at the centre of the square. Intended as a pleasant place to stop and have a break, as De Sanctis himself stated, the stairway has low walls to allow one to sit on them, stone benches placed every twelve steps and landings large enough to induce a pause during the effort of the ascent. Through the curvilinear movement of the ramps, De Sanctis was also able to correct the visual irregularity of the site, characterized by pre-existing buildings placed on the sides of the stairway which were not aligned along parallel axes; by doing so, he managed to suggest the idea of a pre-existing visual axis between the facade of the church and the city below. In this complex architectural organism, two main sections can be distinguished: one at the top and characterized by a protruding circular volume flanked by two lateral stairs and an underlying ramp in axis with it, and a lower one (separated from the other by a large central widening) which repeats the same compositional scheme, but with a livelier articulation of the ramp that one encounters when going up from Piazza di Spagna.

The Spanish Steps were built to link piazza di Spagna with Via Felice, the first great street planned by Sixtus V (1585). Several projects were made between 1717 and 1720, also by Alessandro Specchi. “A protruding volume is flanked by convex stairs and a straight flight in front. The upper unit presents the theme in its basic form; the lower constitutes an articulate and lively variation” (C. Norberg-Schulz. Late Baroque and Rococo Architecture.).

How Monument was dated:

Archival documentation.

Selected bibliography:

Grundmann, S., “Spanish Steps”, in Grundmann S. (ed), The Architecture of Rome, Stuttgart/London: Edition Axel Menges: 2007: 259–260.
Rolfi, S., “Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti”, I principi della chiesa, Milan: Edizioni Charta, 1998: 237–238.

Citation of this web page:

Pier Paolo Racioppi "Spanish Steps" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;it;Mon11;33;en

Prepared by: Pier Paolo RacioppiPier Paolo Racioppi

Laureato e specializzato in storia dell'arte presso l'Università di Roma “La Sapienza” sta conseguendo il dottorato di ricerca in Storia e conservazione dell'oggetto d'arte e d'architettura presso l'Università di Roma TRE. Ha svolto attività seminariali presso l'Istituto di Storia dell'Arte all'Università La Sapienza di Roma e attualmente è docente di storia dell'arte del Rinascimento presso la IES at Luiss (Roma).
Ha pubblicato diversi contributi sulla tutela artistica, il collezionismo e le accademie d'arte, ed ha collaborato al Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani dell'Enciclopedia Treccani.
Copyedited by: Janice MedinaJanice Medina

Janice Medina is an artist and educator based in Upstate New York. She studied interior design at Syracuse University and obtained her M.S. in Building Conservation in 2008 (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and Master of Fine Arts in 2019 (University at Albany).

Janice is a former participant in the US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program and she has taught courses in the history of design and historic preservation. Her artwork is influenced by her experiences in historic preservation, as well as by building materials and the natural environment.

Janice has participated as a copy-editor with Museum With No Frontiers since 2019. In this role she has had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects including Discover Islamic Art, Discover Baroque Art and Discover Glass Art.
Translation by: Lavinia Amenduni

MWNF Working Number: IT1 33