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10. SS. DOMENICO E SISTO, STAIRCASE
Chauffourier, Gustavio Eugenio, print of earlier de Bonis negative
The staircase in front of SS. Domenico e Sisto was constructed between 1655 and 1663 following the design of Vincenzo della Greca. The facade of S. Caterina a Magnanapoli is visible in the distance at the left, with the pavilion and umbrella pines of the Aldobrandini gardens at center. The photographer has sought to document the stairway and balustrade leading to the church from an unusual perspective. By including the surrounding courtyard, he has scripted an image that first confounds the viewer and then evokes the excitement one feels in Rome when turning a corner and entering a new-found sculpted urban space.
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11. SS. DOMENICO E SISTO, STAIRCASE
Chauffourier, Gustavio Eugenio, print, attributed to an earlier De Bonis negative
Moving a few steps forward from his position in #10, the cameraman here confronts the side stairway directly but playfully, perching himself high enough to incorporate as many stone spheres crowning the balustrade as possible. At the same time we are allowed a view out of the courtyard through the open gateway and beyond to the cypresses of the Aldobrandini Gardens.
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12. UNIDENTIFIED COURTYARD
Simelli, Carlo Baldessare
This photograph is about a shared public living space. The courtyard is penetrated by an external stairway whose hard stone treads, worn by years of gritty feet, ascend to the stoop of the open doorway #17. Wonderful light suffuses the space and creates contrasts accentuating the abstract intersection of planes, arches and doorways. The question of what lies behind is palpable. Berries and prepared food on the left suggest the presence of human activity just out of view.
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13. S. MARIA DELLA CONCENZIONE, STAIRCASE
de Bonis A(driano)
This image records another lost feature of Baroque Rome: the staircase of Santa Maria della Concezione, the church of the Cappucine Order. The stairs were built in 1626–31, when the church and monastic complex were erected at the expense of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, the brother of Pope Urban VIII. In 1890 the stairs were removed to make way for the Via Veneto. A seated ghostly contadina and a reclining ephemeral man lounge in this appealing composition. In this image, De Bonis demonstrates his fascination with the stairways, whether simple or theatrical, of Rome.
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14. LION FOUNTAINS AT THE BASE OF THE CAPITALINE RAMP
de Bonis, A(driano)
Giacomo della Porta placed the two lions of black Egyptian granite at the foot of Michelangelo’s ramp ascending to the Piazza del Campidoglio in 1582. In 1588, when the Acqua Felice was brought to the Campidoglio, the lions were adapted to allow water to issue from their mouths. They provided the inspiration for the lion fountains Valadier would later design to embellish the obelisk in Piazza del Popolo. This close-up places the lions in shadow as they anchor the base of the Campidoglio cordonata. Water slowly spouts into the urns and then spills into the basins below, wetting the plinth and surrounding cobbles. The Aracoeli steps and buildings are bathed in open sun in the background; the buildings have undergone some recent renovation (compare with #15).
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15. S. MARIA IN ARACOELIs
de Bonis, A(driano)
The steep staircase leading up to the church of S. Maria in Aracoeli was inaugurated by Cola da Rienzi in 1348. Marble despoiled from Roman ruins, particularly the Temple of the Sun on the Quirinal, provided the necessary material. The houses defining the far side of the stairs, like the monastery and cloisters of the church, were destroyed in the 1880s to make way for the monument to Victor Emanuel II. The composition emphasizes the darkened silhouettes of the Egyptian lions fountains at the base of Michelangelo’s cordonata, and the eye is drawn in to the composition by the reticulate pattern of the cobble stones. Seeking shade, a group of men lounges at the base of the steps leading to the facade of the Aracoeli, which glow with the reflected light of the mid-day sun.
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16. S. MARIA IN ARACOELI, FACADE
de Bonis, A(driano)
Having climbed the steps to the Aracoeli, de Bonis has tilted the camera to encompass much of the unadorned facade and the whole of the principal portal of the Church. The original portals were reworked in the middle of the 16th century, incorporating fragments of the medieval sculpture. In a clever composition, the Palazzo Nuovo is undistorted and in focus while the Palazzo dei Conservatori is blurred in the lower corner. A street person sleeps in the overly-diminished smaller entrance.
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17. PIAZZA DEL CAMPIDOGLIO, THE TROFEI DI MARIO
de Bonis, A(driano)
In 1590, by command of Pope Sixtus V, two ancient marble trophies popularly known as the Trofei di Mario were removed from their original position on the Nymphaeum of Alexander Severus and installed on the balustrade of the Campidoglio. One of these, viewed from the rear, occupies the foreground. In the middle ground the colossal statues of the Dioscuri flank the opening of the ramp leading up to the Piazza del Campidoglio. The spare brick facade of S. Maria in Aracoeli dominates the rear. De Bonis clearly had more than documentary intentions; the cobbled pavement, with steps up to the balustrade, subtly urges the viewer to step into the picture to enjoy a panoramic vista of the city.
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18. S. MARIA IN ARACOELI, CLOISTER
Chauffourier, Gustavio Eugenio, print
Another vanished monument, the large cloister of the Franciscan monastery of S. Maria in Aracoeli, is recorded here. This portion of the monastery was built during the 15th century. The well-head, bearing the coat of arms of Cardinal Gabriele Rangoni, survives in the Fortezzuola of the Villa Borghese. The cloister, along with the rest of the monastery, was demolished in 1886 to make way for the monument to King Victor Emmanuel II. These two Franciscan monks are caught posing for the camera at the center well. Did the photographer call out “Look here!” after he removed the lens cap to create the two views of the head of the monk on the right?