La Mostra 1725
Report about doors, hills and quarters of the city of Rome. Together with the names of its main squares and streets
Fioravante Martinelli, Le magnificenze di Roma antica, e moderna ricercate nel proprio sito con tutte le cose notabili ch’in essa si trovano, cioè chiese, monasterj, ospedali... teatri, anfiteatri..., fori..., palazzi, statue..., musei, pitture..., Roma 1725
The Trinità dei Monti hill before the construction of the Spanish Steps
During the 1500s and 1600s, the French church of Trinità dei Monti was connected with Piazza di Spagna below by steep paths that ran up a tree-lined slope. In the late 1600s, it became apparent that a staircase was needed to link the church and the square. However, the work was not tackled until the papacy of Clement XI, who commissioned designs from a number of illustrious artists of the day, including Alessandro Specchi and Francesco De Sanctis, the architect who worked for the Ordine dei Minimi (which owned the land). De Sanctis, whose works included the new façade for the Church of Trinità dei Pellegrini, was chosen by Clement XI’s successor, Innocent XII, who gave the go-ahead in 1723 in the hope that work would be completed in time for the 1725 Jubilee. The staircase was indeed inaugurated during the Holy Year, despite the fact that work had not entirely been completed. The final phase of remodelling the hill on which Trinità dei Monti sits was the erection of the Sallustian obelisk in front of the convent, which Pius VI commissioned in the late 1780s, as clearly shown in Giovanni Battista Cipriani’s engraving.
Giovanni Battista Falda, Chiesa della Santiss. Trinità de Monti de PP. minimi francesi sul monte Pincio,in: Id., Il nuovo teatro delle fabriche et edificii in prospettiva di Roma moderna..., vol. II (Il secondo libro del novo teatro delle fabriche, et edificii, fatte fare in Roma, e fuori di Roma dalla santità di nostro signore papa Alessandro VII), Roma 1665-1667
The Trinità dei Monti hill before the construction of the Spanish Steps
During the 1500s and 1600s, the French church of Trinità dei Monti was connected with Piazza di Spagna below by steep paths that ran up a tree-lined slope. In the late 1600s, it became apparent that a staircase was needed to link the church and the square. However, the work was not tackled until the papacy of Clement XI, who commissioned designs from a number of illustrious artists of the day, including Alessandro Specchi and Francesco De Sanctis, the architect who worked for the Ordine dei Minimi (which owned the land). De Sanctis, whose works included the new façade for the Church of Trinità dei Pellegrini, was chosen by Clement XI’s successor, Innocent XII, who gave the go-ahead in 1723 in the hope that work would be completed in time for the 1725 Jubilee. The staircase was indeed inaugurated during the Holy Year, despite the fact that work had not entirely been completed. The final phase of remodelling the hill on which Trinità dei Monti sits was the erection of the Sallustian obelisk in front of the convent, which Pius VI commissioned in the late 1780s, as clearly shown in Giovanni Battista Cipriani’s engraving.
SS. Trinita de' Monti, in: Fioravanti Martinelli, Roma di nuovo ricercata nel suo sito... Di nuovo con ogni diligenza corretta & accresciuta con belle figure, Roma 1702
The Trinità dei Monti hill before the construction of the Spanish Steps
During the 1500s and 1600s, the French church of Trinità dei Monti was connected with Piazza di Spagna below by steep paths that ran up a tree-lined slope. In the late 1600s, it became apparent that a staircase was needed to link the church and the square. However, the work was not tackled until the papacy of Clement XI, who commissioned designs from a number of illustrious artists of the day, including Alessandro Specchi and Francesco De Sanctis, the architect who worked for the Ordine dei Minimi (which owned the land). De Sanctis, whose works included the new façade for the Church of Trinità dei Pellegrini, was chosen by Clement XI’s successor, Innocent XII, who gave the go-ahead in 1723 in the hope that work would be completed in time for the 1725 Jubilee. The staircase was indeed inaugurated during the Holy Year, despite the fact that work had not entirely been completed. The final phase of remodelling the hill on which Trinità dei Monti sits was the erection of the Sallustian obelisk in front of the convent, which Pius VI commissioned in the late 1780s, as clearly shown in Giovanni Battista Cipriani’s engraving.
La Trinité du Mont, in: François Jacques Deseine, Rome moderne, première ville de l'Europe, avec toutes ses magnificences et ses délices..., vol. I, Leiden 1713
The Spanish Steps
This representation of the "new" staircase of Trinità dei Monti appears for the first time in a guide in 1725: la Roma ampliata e rinovata o sia Nuova descrizione della moderna città di Roma e di tutti gli edifizi notabili che sono in essa, printed and edited by Gregorio Roisecco. His heirs will keep on using it during the Eighteenth century even though new and more accurate representations of the staircase illustrate by then also the most popular guides.
La Trinita de Monti, in: Nuova descrizione di Roma antica e moderna e di tutti li più nobili monumenti sagri e profani che sono in essa e nelle sue vicinanze... Edizione seconda..., Roma 1775
The Spanish Steps
Piazza di Spagna, in: Roma antica e moderna o sia nuova descrizione della moderna città di Roma... Abbellita con duecento e più figure in rame... Accresciuta in questa nuova edizione di un tomo terzo..., vol. I, Roma 1745
Trinità dei Monti after completion of the Spanish Steps and the erection of the Sallustian obelisk
Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Piazza di Spagna, in: Id., Vedute principali e più interessanti di Roma, Roma 1799
Rite of opening and closing of the Holy Door of Santa Maria Maggiore
Giovanni Cristoforo Battelli, Brevis enarratio sacrorum rituum servatorum in aperiendo, & claudendo portam sanctam patriarchalis basilicae liberianae S. Mariae Majoris ab eminentissimo, & reverendissimo Petro card. Otthobono s. r. E. vice-cancellario, episcopo sebinensi, ejusdemque Basilicae archipresbytero & apostolico de latere legato, Roma 1726