Podcast Script: Palazzo Spada & S. Ivo Della Sapienza
Allow me to introduce you to Francesco Borromini! My name is Nancy Robles and I will be your host for today! Borromini was an Italian-Swiss Architect, most known for his baroque style architecture and breaking the rules of classical architecture with overlapping geometries and undulating elements in his designs.
Borromini started out as a young stonemason and moved to Rome. Borromini worked with Carlo Maderno, a relative of his who was an architect. After Carlo passed away, Borromini ended up working with a famous sculptor and painter, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Borromini learned from Bernini and were two great artists. The two artists worked on Palazzo Barberini and St. Peter's baldachin, also known as the bronze canopy. Soon after, Borromini got his first independent commission to design San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. Although both Bernini and Borromini worked together on the bronze canopy, Borromini did not get acknowledged for his contribution to the design. The two artists ended up becoming enemies due to their strong personalities that led to bitterness and jealousy of each other's achievements. Now this context is essential for us to understand the character of Borromini and move forward on his other works that were such an innovation from classical architecture.
Moving forward, I would like to talk about Palazzo Spada. The palazzo was originally built in 1540, before Borromini was born. The palazzo at the time was commissioned by Cardinal Girolamo Capodiferro and owned by the Mignanelli family. In 1632 the palazzo was bought by Cardinal Spada who commissioned Francesco Borromini. Borromini’s idea for this commission was to create a spacious garden that made the inside appear larger. The problem with this request was that the palace had already taken a lot of space in the plot so Borromini decided to create an optical illusion through the corridor. The way Borromini did this was by lowering the ceiling and raising the floor. The colonnade perspective appears to be over 60 feet long, but it is actually more like 24 feet long, which is less than half of the appearance. In order for this illusion to work, the statue had to be scaled down. The statue is 31 inches tall, making it 2 and a half feet tall. Although the colonnade appears to be long, once you walk through it, it does not make visual sense because everything is scaling down except your height remains the same.
Moving onto St. Ivo alla Sapienza, just 8 minutes south from our first destination, which was built from 1642-1660. The site was originally Rome’s first university, University of la Sapienza founded in 1303. Sapienza means knowledge, so the site is regarded as the palace of knowledge. The church was commissioned by the pope Urbano the VIII Barberini to continue what Giacomo della Porta had already begun. They initially wanted to add a church, but space was limited. So they commissioned the infamous Borromini, who specialized in designing masterpieces in small plots to complete the structure. Borromini focused on elevation due to the plot limit. Standing at 89 feet tall, the church creates a vertical emphasis on the exterior and interior. The concave design was created to fit perfectly in what was previously the University of la Sapienza.The form of the church creates a beautiful courtyard that funnels people into the site. The arcades on the lateral sides of the concave facade were part of the University of la Sapienza, but work beautifully with the facade as a guide that pulls people into the church entry, architecturally embracing and welcoming people in.
The floor plan’s central geometry is a triangle, representing the Holy Trinity. A second triangle is inverted directly on top of the other, representing a 6-pointed star that is then added and subtracted by 6 circular geometries. Creating a hexagon that forms the shape of the rotunda. The walls rise directly from a 6-pointed geometry; creating a rigid pattern that seems to be physically breaking the plot to meet the dome and molding its form. On top of the dome of the rotunda is the famous spiraling oval lantern. The spiraling represents the journey of man to God, the cross representing Jesus as the most high. The exterior facade carries a sense of theatricality through the interaction between people and the building. The spiral grabs pedestrians attention and guides them into the site. The concave facade pulls them into the church and the interior provides a transcendent experience using geometric rhythm that points to the heavens.
With all of this said, St Ivo alla Sapienza is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings by Borromini and of baroque history because it is so special and unique. It focuses on symbolism, symmetry, adding and subtracting geometries, and optical illusions through manipulating shadows. The intricacy of detail in the exterior and interior is commended, especially when recognized that the main material to sculpt was stucco due to its affordability. It shows that beautiful things can come out of cheap materials.
That is all I have for you today, thank you so much for watching, until next time!
