Helicoidal staircase by Francesco Borromini
Palazzo Barberini
Via delle Quattro Fontane
Rome, September 2010
“Maderno envisioned a floor plan in the shape of an ‘H’, with the Sforza wing facing the piazza. A second parallel wing is connected by a central hall. Flanking the hall, two sets of stairs lead to the piano nobile, a large squared staircase by Bernini to the left and a smaller oval staircase by Borromini to the right. The main block presents three tiers of great arch-headed windows, like glazed arcades, a formula that was more Venetian than Roman. On the uppermost floor, Borromini's windows are set in a false perspective that suggests extra depth, a feature that has been copied into the 20th century.” (Palazzo Barberini, Wikipedia)
8 comments:
Gorgeous! That lighting really complements the structure and composition. The double baroque colums and elliptical (?) staircase are really something - unusual if not unique.
Oh, yes. You call it "oval." I guess I read images before words.
@ tapirgal - You are right. I found 'oval' somewhere, but I think 'elliptical' is a more proper geometric term.
Ah yes. I remember walking up and down. When I walked down I was still enjoying Raffaello's La Fornarina, Cortona's ceiling and Caravaggio's sublime Narcissus in my head.
Walking it up seems to be a challenge:)
So glad you walked up and took the picture..it is the only way I would ever see it...beautiful.
So beautiful.
Great shot of these stairs, VP. I'd get dizzy walking up OR down... and I walk a LOT of stairs, avoiding escalators and elevators as much as I can. :-D
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