COLLECTION NAME:
Archivision Base to Module 9
Record
Preferred Title:
Palazzo Spada: False Perspective Colonnade
Alternate Title:
Prospettiva
Image View:
View of the statue and garden at the end of the colonnade (the statue is 2 ft high)
Creator:
Francesco Borromini (Italian architect, 1599-1667)
Location:
site: Palazzo Spada (Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Date:
1652 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Baroque
Work Type 1:
colonnade
Work Type 2:
garden structure
Classification:
architectural elements
Material:
marble
Technique:
construction (assembling)
Measurements:
8.6 m (length)
Relation Work:
part of Palazzo Spada
Subjects:
architectural exteriors; architectural elements; colonnade
Description:
Borromini also worked at the Palazzo Spada in Piazza Capodiferro near the Palazzo Farnese. In the garden he created a folly known as the Prospettiva (1652); this was to become more famous than the actual palazzo, which had been altered by Paolo Maruscelli before 1649. With its slanted walls, floor and vault, this corridor conjures up the illusion of a Doric colonnade 20 m long, whereas its length is only 8.6 m. The ideas tried out in this small garden building were picked up in Bernini's Scala Regia (1663-6) at the Vatican. The mathematical basis for Borromini's witty little building was probably provided by an Augustinian mathematician, Giovanni Mario da Bitonto. [The "lifesize" sculpture in daylight beyond is only 60 cm high.] (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/)
Collection:
Archivision Base Collection
Identifier:
1A1-BF-PSC-A4
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
Palazzo Spada: False Perspective Colonnade
