sign in sign up
<<
Home , Borgo (rione of Rome), Borgo Nuovo (Rome), Borgo Vecchio (Rome)

Framing St. Peter's: Urban Planning in Fascist Author(s): Terry Kirk Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 88, No. 4 (Dec., 2006), pp. 756-776 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25067285 Accessed: 11/07/2010 14:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=caa.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

College Art Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Art Bulletin.

http://www.jstor.org Framing St. Peter's: Urban Planning in Fascist Rome Terry Kirk

The in Rome is street's with certain the thoroughfare that vista, aspects having been edited out, leads to St. Peter's in Rome The construction of structures the to a (Fig. 1). viewer's gaze isolate significant historical the "Street of the which entailed the site and celebrate Reconciliation," gutting particularly Michelangelo's monumental medieval in front of the Vatican known as the architecture. Under 's neighborhood close supervision, district of the a vista to St. Peter's and linked their also the , opened design emphasized regime's diplomatic union the church to the The street extends from the with the to complex city. Church, using the latter's supranational authority of Gian 'Lorenzo Bernini's at the location of an own edge piazza further its imperialist agenda. The Via della Conciliazi unrealized terzo or "third arm" of colon one is the most of the used to braccio, enclosing complete example strategies eastward to the area of the Castel A the urban nade, Sant'Angelo. reshape experience of Fascist Rome. variety of preexisting and newly designed buildings face the wide and its serve street, twenty-eight that line path Five Hundred Years of Proposals to Clear the Borgo also as The Via della Conciliazione was was an lampposts. begun Clearing the Borgo district of itsmedieval fabric idea under Fascist rule in half a millennium in the The Rome 1936, designed by Marcello Piacentini making. of and Attilio Spaccarelli and completed in 1950. Their concep and the papal seat at the Vatican envisioned by Nicholas of tion took cognizance many earlier urban design proposals V in the early 1450s would have required the total revision of for this site back to the Renaissance. At the same the area between the church and the Castel dating time, Sant'Angelo.3 it incorporated symbolic aspects of the Lateran Pact of 1929, For the Holy Year 1500, Pope Alexander VI sliced through which normalized diplomatic relations between the Italian part of it with a straight street called the (Fig. Fascist state and the Roman Catholic Church. The street 3).4 Itmarked the path of the possesso, the ceremonial march frames St. its in a from the Vatican as the took Peter's, particularly problematic facade, by which, temporal ruler, pope new makes concrete the union of church and state of the other the vista, possession his capital. From direction, Borgo to Mussolini's and on imperative political agenda, exemplifies Nuovo focused the arriving pilgrim the front door of the of urban used in Fascist Rome. The not the The strategies planning widely , church (Fig. 4). vista accented Via della Conciliazione is the visual and political frame in the presence of the pope both as resident at the church of the which we and over the of Rome. new understand the relationship of the Catholic Church apostle ruler city Between the and the Italian state street and an to a today. older street, the the south, on the Via della Conciliazione are thin sliver of the Received opinions buildings called spina remained. rest often on a blind of the roundly negative.1 They rejection When architect undertook the total modern intervention in historical a for the of a con places, regret rebuilding Old St. Peter's basilica into Renaissance effect on Bernini's or for For piazza, nostalgia the lost Borgo. struction for Pope Julius II in 1506, he may also have consid scholars of the like Rudolf or ered a A attributed in piazza, Wittkower corresponding urban design. drawing cannot ever Hellmut Hager, who hold that Bernini's work be the nineteenth century to Bramante (in the Galler?a degli the to an insen a finished, Via della Conciliazione appears be Uffizi, ) suggests rebuilding of the Borgo (Fig. sitive intrusion driven Bias Classical architecture the area here would by reprehensible politics.2 against 13).5 lining have, to a as in of Bramante's created a controlled the Via della Conciliazione is largely due prevailing view many projects, per as an of Bernini's piazza enclosed environment, despite evi spectival frame in which the church would be best viewed. dence and Bernini ex a presented by Wittkower others that Bramante's idea of sc?nographie urban setting for St. Pe other It is not uncommon to find scholars ter's on the first in a plored options. remained, however, paper, proposal the for the dark to accentu series to accumulate across the for the of forsaking thoroughfare alleys centuries rebuilding ate an of contrast on the area to experience finally entering bright the medieval Borgo accord with the classical grandeur new piazza. of the church. Such scholars overlook the long history since the Renais By the end of the sixteenth century, with Michelangelo's sance of to clear the to proposals Borgo which the modern for St. Peter's almost finished, had designers made explicit reference. In addition, the 1929 Domenico Fontana erect an in front of the site. Lateran Pact between the and the Fascist to effect a papacy regime Sixtus's resolve significant urban transformation of furnished a political context in which the ultimate project the Borgo was implicit. Of the four obelisks Sixtus V relocated was conceived. the aesthetic informed in in Rome to orient to Within parameters by strategic positions pilgrims important the architects' own and of the Vatican obelisk did not have an explanations responses contempo locations, only already Piacentini and featured St. Peter's in a vista to it. Fontana this raries, Spaccarelli open leading Furthermore, placed or to for the off axis in to the of reconfigured "frame," inquadratura, provide first obelisk relation orientation the church a of the view to its facade and construction. This can in time strategic adjustment dome be easily verified by noting any view and a comprehensive vision of the Vatican (Fig. 2). The new of the exterior of St. Peter's today the lack of alignment of the FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 757

[

t*r^gH&?itJfjfe I

&?"C j t ; m.

?illllll ;:l|!|j!Pjpisi?i! 7 Iplflfi

1936-50 ? Fratelli 1 Marcello Piacentini and Attilio Spaccarelli, Via della Conciliazione, Rome, (photograph Alinari, Florence)

2 Marcello Piacentini framing the vista for Benito Mussolini, with Giuseppe Bottai, Di?o Alfieri, Attilio Spaccarelli, Cipriano Efisio Oppo, Virgilio Testa, and an unidentified figure, October 1937 (photograph ? Istituto Luce, Rome) ART LXXXVIII 4 758 BULLETIN VOLUME NUMBER

area 3 Giovanni Battista Nolli, map of Rome, detail of the Borgo between St. Peter's and the Castel Sant'Angelo, 1748 (artwork in the public domain; photograph provided by Studium Urbis, Rome)

4 Borgo Nuovo (right), Borgo Vecchio (left), and the spina in between, early 20th century (photograph in the public domain, provided by the Fototeca Unione, American Academy of Rome)

to behind it. It never to visual axis from the was shifted a few obelisk's tip reference points aligns extending away complex to It run the center of both the facade's pediment and the central window of the degrees the north.6 would have down new under Michelan as can be seen on accurate like the dome's drum. The church, continuing the spina block, maps plan was in Fontana's still a work in its Nolli a westward gelo's plans, day progress; by Giovanni Battista (Fig. 3). Thus, long, nave and facade had not yet been conceived, and parts of the axial approach could have been realized economically by Sixtus V's short old church still stood in the midst of the work site. But it is simply extracting the spina; however, during a was no was unlikely that discrepancy of the obelisk's alignment the reign demolition accomplished. In com engineer's oversight. By this specific placement of the obelisk the early seventeenth century, to church construction. Rather than Bra approximately thirteen feet (four meters) the left while pleted the following out mante and a centralized looking from the church's front door, the imagined Michelangelo by employing scheme, FRAMING ST. URBAN IN ROME PETER'S: PLANNING FASCIST 759

Vaticana, Rome, Codice Chigi AI19, fol. 68r (artwork in the public domain; photograph ? Biblioteca Apost?lica Vaticana)

p?ete demolition of the Borgo. As full clearance became more more he to 5 Ideal view of St. Peter's, ca. 1588, . Biblioteca and unlikely, then sought mask the irreg Palazzo Rome in the structures a terzo Vaticana, Apost?lico, (artwork public ular spina standing nearby with so-called a on domain; in 1937 article a A photograph reproduced Borgo braccio, third freestanding range of columns. drawing clearance projects, provided by the Musei Vaticani, Rome) attributed in the late nineteenth century to Bernini proposed an terzo braccio alternative location for the pulled back into the spina (Fig. 6).10 Demolition of only a few structures would he it a nave a In contrast to a to the of gave very long and large facade. have afforded longer vantage point improve angle an the as re over to architectural solution dominated by cupola, vision the tall facade the dome. This position, roughly corded, for example, in a fresco in the (Fig. 330 feet (100 meters) further back, would, according to to seen on the still have 5), Maderno's facade compromised the view the dome. Bernini's calculations drawing, guaran the church's axial Maderno's teed a lateral into the breadth. Retaining original orientation, satisfactory panorama piazza's is also in to to a facade oblique relation the preset obelisk. By After the death of Pope Alexander VII, work slowed halt, most work other as the terzo braccio and Bernini's re assessments, Maderno's posed problems leaving unbuilt, piazza it mained and well.7 Deprived of the intended vertically rising bell towers, open-ended incomplete. a rather too-broad Maderno's facade added At the end of the seventeenth Carlo presented image. century, Fontana, to the and later architects were keen to fix assistant to Bernini and descendant of Domenico complications site, Fontana, its errors. the state of affairs. He the obelisk engineer, assessed complex to an to In 1651, the St. Peter's building commission made explicit reiterated the need open axial approach and deter its intention of a The cardinals dis an in opening thoroughfare. mine optimal viewing point "to take easily the whole a To this he two some cussed proposal "to demolish all the buildings between the church."11 end, presented (by analyses, Borgo Nuovo and the Borgo Vecchio for a greater and longer three) distinct plans. His first project entailed the demolition to costs more of and the of Bernini's terzo braccio vista the church."8 High expropriation and vested of the spina setting a at a Another envi property interests kept them from proceeding. Only few the end of deep trapezoidal forecourt. structures in the nearest the church were at this time area a spina sioned the total rebuilding of the Borgo around fun cleared. nel-shaped space (Fig. 7). To maintain some integrity of he called a nobik With the possibilities of demolishing the spina limited, Bernini's piazza, Fontana planned what Bernini then developed the piazza at St. Peter's within these interrompimento (noble interruption) to divide the sacred area church from the of the spatial and financial constraints. The Borgo Nuovo remained around the profane presence city. focused on the Apostolic Palace entrance, and the obelisk lay Rather than solving the problems, Fontana elided them in his to nave. in He the church and off axis the church's His solution for the space drawings. fictitiously aligned nave, piazza, a area new to front of the church combined trapezoidal connected obelisk with his avenue, shifting the church align with to Maderno's facade with a lower transverse oval centered on the urban axis. Although his emphasis on the sc?nographie arcs nature urban was reminiscent of Fontana Fontana's obelisk defined by of colonnades. Curves and of space Bramante, subtly irregular angles at the junctures helped to overcome overlooked difficulties that moving to and through an inter of The arm of colonnade could have However all problems misalignment. northern columns rupting caused.12 unrealistic, to Fontana's had the value of the essential stopped short leave the Borgo Nuovo vista clear (Figs. 3, images encapsulating com to a vista to the to 4). Bernini also explored plans that would call for the design problems: open proper church, ART 750 BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER 4

8 Cosimo Morelli, Borgo clearance project, 1776. BAV, Gabinetto di Stampe, Cartella San Pietro?Morelli (artwork in the public domain; photograph ? Biblioteca Apost?lica 7 , Borgo clearance project with nobile Vaticana, Rome) e sua interrompimento, 1694, from R Tempio Vaticano origine, Rome, 1694, pi. 231 (artwork in the public domain; photograph ? Fototeca Biblioteca Hertziana, Rome) revolutionaries centered their Napoleonic political propa in St. Peter's A ganda piazza. ritualistic pledge of confedera tion to the of the French Revolution was spirit staged before maintain the of the and to articulate the the church to the shift in Rome from to civil integrity piazza, emphasize papal a nature of rebuilt Borgo district. His published drawings authority.14 Citizens filed up the Borgo Nuovo in a possesso in served as the for numerous reverse to a in starting point subsequent "patriotic altar" erected the piazza (Fig. 9). The event transformed the with projects. space strong propagandistic Cosimo an architect in court Morelli, the of Pope Pius VI, symbols that fired the imaginations of the designers in Rome, worked up a project in 1776 (Fig. 8).13 He, too, would have only to be pulled back by , who urged his planners eliminated the Even he could not resolve a to on and decorum. A simply spina. so, focus economy, civil hygiene, project telling discrepancy between his perspective and the reality of subsequently drawn up for Borgo improvements by Giuseppe street as seen in at and Rafaello the alignment the Nolli map (Fig. 3) the Valadier, Pietro Camporese, Stern of the Napo juncture of the Borgo Vecchio and Bernini's southern colon leonic Commission d'Abellissement in 1811 would have sim street not nade. Unlike the Borgo Nuovo, the older did in ply demolished the spina, disregarded the discrepancies of truth align with the edge of the colonnade opening, despite Morelli's project, and placed a line of fountains through the the of Morelli's view. The shortcom appearance perspective irregular open space.15 of accentuated the tension to ing Morelli's project between Projects continued appear throughout the nineteenth demolition and a coherent visual Their execution was costs or short minimizing costly achieving century. hampered by high to such as the 1848 its space. Pope Pius VI, who added significantly the Vatican reigns, later republican revolution, with could not extend his finances nor his hold on own interest in area. Pius IX's complex, reshaping the Only during to urban were a on power long enough accomplish improvements here long pontificate few buildings cleared the far end before he was overthrown in the in near the and structures Napoleonic uprising Castel Sant'Angelo matching by Luigi Rome in 1798. Poletti erected in 1858 flanking the entrance to the two FRAMING ST. PETERS: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 7g1

9 Giuseppe Camporese, Andrea Vici, and Paolo Bargigli, "Patriotic altar" in the Piazza of St. Peter's, 1798, in Felice Giani, La Festa delta Federazione a on X Piazza S. Pietro, oil panel, 15 21 in. (38 X 53 cm). Museo di Roma, Rome (artwork in the public domain)

master 10 Alessandro Viviani, plan for Rome (preliminary unratified project), detail of right bank and Vatican area, 1873 (artwork in the public domain; photograph provided by Studium Urbis, Rome)

streets to was not became the contested on which the state marked out (Fig. 4).16 Although the vista the church ground classical recalled Bramante's sc? the to its church. opened, Poletti's buildings relationship a new architectural framework for the first master nographie idea of Alessandro Viviani drafted the capital's plan of the Borgo. (Fig. 10), and he, too, projected the simple extraction In 1870, the political context changed significantly with the spina of the Borgo, but government officials could not ratify Rome as the national for united were still unsure about the seizure of capital . Pope his proposal of 1873 because they successors no the as the extent?if territorial concessions that eventu Pius IX's could longer march possesso, any?of might was no theirs to Thus the made to the Ideas of a small bit of city longer possess. began peculiar ally be pope.17 reserving situation of a state that hosted within its borders its over land inscribed by the preexisting fortifications, which nonetheless remained the or of the or even thrown temporal foe, spiri ceding the entire right bank city, diverting tual focus for its people. The topography around the Vatican the River around the Castel Sant'Angelo as a rerouted ART BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER 4 762

a the fluctuating and uncertain process toward reconciliation of church and state during this period. in of was too Intervening the urban setting the Vatican still volatile. were from politically Improvements again omitted in master consideration Rome's second plan, of 1909, be cause of v; Mayor Ernesto Nathan's strident anticlericalism. The ^4 year 1911 marked the fiftieth anniversary of Italian national a unity, and the capital hosted world's fair, which the mayor called Rome's secular jubilee. Thirty-year-old architect Mar cello Piacentini designed the fairgrounds around a columned and domed structure to piazza whose correspondence the architecture of the Vatican event nearby made the explicitly a secular to ecclesiastical equivalent celebrations.21 Without official diplomatic clarification of the role of the Roman Catholic Church within the Italian state for its first fifty years, a radical political climate developed and rather grandiose like projects for the Borgo appeared, that by the neo-Baroque 11 in Giuseppe Bertagnolio, development plan for the Vatican designer Armando Brasini 1916.22 area and bank, ca. 1880. Location unknown in The remained a concrete right (artwork Borgo symbol of the political the public domain) obstacle between the nation and its this church. Throughout no one involved in the period project recommended saving the elements were Borgo. Some individual valued, including the house of Giacomo and Bartolomeo da Brescia, Palazzo water were considered at the time to for a and S. in on boundary provide Giraud-, Maria Traspontina the north separate papal state. But in 1876 the incoming Leftist major ern curb of the Borgo Nuovo, but nothing in the spina in Parliament elicited interest. The notion of its vernacu ity adopted tough interventionist policies with much preserving to the Church and in lar fabric and which a regard proceeded unilaterally capital shadowy streets, provided striking and urbanization on Rome's bank. new contrast to was not expansion right The the sunlit expanse of Bernini's piazza, in minister of for chose a site as close as wide in Rome. justice, example, currency early-twentieth-century Gustavo Gio to the Vatican for the a seat at was possible Supreme Court building, vannoni, Rome's leading urbanist the time, influential of to counterbalance the in much of the temporal justice spiritual symbolism curbing Haussmannian-type gutting historic of St. Peter's.18 who went on not to Although Viviani, elaborating city, but he did extend this protection the Borgo. was Sistine urban the streets laid Giovannoni so ideas, inspired by planning, advocated the Borgo's clearance that the Vati out on the bank neither a vista nor a direct can the urban right provide might dominate environment surrounding traffic connection to the church. In the the medieval in all end, it.23 Implicit considerations?from Bramante and Ber was in the to Borgo entirely ignored nineteenth-century expan nini Brasini and Giovannoni?was the notion that the sion. To the like a scheme small-scale medieval at cross contrary, pro-papal planning ideas, condition of the Borgo lay a on to by Giuseppe Bertagnolio, anticipated papal state the purposes the monumental classical elements of the Vati bank and a centralized street with to the can. After five centuries of a right pattern respect proposals, rich design experi dome (Fig. 11). Viviani's master plan for the capital was ence had accumulated with which architects could confront ratified in and it all the of the an eventually 1883, guided urban development complex problems project: axial visual in Rome for the next The did not to twenty-five years. plan alignment with larger urban configurations, visibility the intervene in the to demolish dome and the visual relation to an Borgo except the fortification adjusting the facade, and walls that bordered the area to the the of the tune north, only part architectural setting in with the monumental church circuit walls of in era. Rome destroyed the modern and the spirit of the times. Political tensions between the papacy and the Italian gov ernment eased in the late 1880s, and Viviani correspondingly The Lateran Pact the an crosstown to explored possibility of open, vista the On February 11, 1929, Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini di "Cupolone Michelangelo"?as nineteenth-century plan signed the Lateran Pact that finally clarified the political rela ners referred to the Vatican in secular terms. With the inten state tionship between the Italian and the Vatican. It established tion of either binding the monumental church to the city or the parameters within which a definitive Borgo project could own setting it within its independent sphere of urban influ take shape. Italy officially adopted Catholicism as the state of various what to were ence, designers political stripes pondered religion (others tolerated within the law), and the do with the Borgo. Andrea Busiri-Vici conceived a covered Church lent its support to the regime's social and political of iron and in 1886 which he to This came at a The galleria glass by attempted positions. support price. Italian govern focus the view down a narrow This the real ment the Vatican an enormous and passage.19 time, paid indemnity accepted estate of 1889 all all the urbanistic con collapse stopped planning, leaving the pact's implications, including utilities an academic exercise. A fellow at the Amer nections to the Vatican and the of the Borgo's redesign City clearance Borgo. ican in dedicated his Each the other's so Academy 1915, Henry Gugler, Rome party recognized sovereignty, the pact to the The wide of on the renunciation of out prize problem.20 variety proposals belied hinged pope's temporal claims FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 753

jm 1

?A. ,m '?{}?

rA-i%^**t

la Chiesa the demolition of the 12 Palazzo dei Convertendi, housing the Sacra Congregazione per Orientale, Rome, during spina, August 1937 (photograph ? Istituto Luce, Rome)

of the as it was in the side the boundaries of the Vatican walls. Indeed, in 1922 Pius peoples world; vast, orderly, powerful, sworn a time of the first of Mussolini's short XI had already been in with diplomatic omission of empire Augustus." With the the of the clause regarding temporal power. pact signed, speech mandating governatore (appointed mayor) be determined. A line Rome in December 1925 to undertake urban set precise territorial demarcation could planning at the of Bernini's of flush granite paving edge open-ended the priorities: new sites piazza indicates the border of the city-state. Specific the Vatican walls where institu beyond important religious tree You will continue to free the trunk of the great oak of some such as tions had been located for time, the papal that still obstructs it. You will open up space or Rome's at the Palazzo della Cancel everything chancellery bishopric and the around the Theater of Marcellus, the Capitoline, ler?a and St. Lateran received extraterrito John respectively, has around them Pantheon. Everything that grown during rial status to a mission. these sites equivalent foreign Among must five the centuries of decadence disappear. Within was also the Sacra la Chiesa Orientale Congregazione per a must the years, great passage from Piazza make housed in a the Palazzo dei Convertendi, in the building, monument of the Pantheon visible. You will also free the center of the 12). If to a spina (Fig. plans open thoroughfare Christian Rome from the and majestic temples of parasitic were to attention needed to be to this proceed, special paid constructions. The millennial monuments of our profane property. The bilateral Commissione T?cnica ?talo-Vaticana history must loom in the required isolation. Thus the third was established to clarify the practical applications of the Rome will spread over the hills, along the banks of the articles, but its members worked over the next pact's slowly to the beaches of the sacred river, Tyrrhenian.26 could be undertaken in the four years, and nothing definitive Borgo until they finished.24 was a new The of urban were here laid out: isolate Meanwhile, the Fascist government developing strategies planning master Rome. It was monuments the plan for propelled by political impera the significant by eliminating insignificant, over structure the vistas the to accentuate the tives, uncontested administrative control the city, and and through city resonance the considerable design talents of the emerging group of inherent historical with contemporary political urban design professionals led by Gustavo Giovannoni and aspirations. concerns or As in "architecture della citt?" Marcello Piacentini.25 Above of traffic, hygiene, the university professor (lit mere in the urban the Fascist or and architect decorum capital's planning, erally, city architectures, urbanism) ranking valued "In five of the Accademia Marcello Piacentini regime representational grandeur. years," prestigious d'Italia, new master Mussolini declared, "Rome must appear marvellous to all the clarified Mussolini's directives for the plan for ART 4 754 BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER

Rome: "In the demolitions and in the new which "to frame the This necessary making managed suggestive picture."35 to of to roads every chance will be seized advantage important procedure editing, isolating, and framing views histori historical and to make the best of cal monuments was across Rome with de buildings monumental and repeated varying scenic until now all too Roman town of from views, neglected by grees success, the Theater of Marcellus and the The work of the master Piacentini mentioned in to planners."2 planners, Capitoline, by Mussolini 1925, imperial needed "to to the of monuments of the of concluded, respond imperatives gran Augustus and the Imperial deur an monumental ... in Fora. by creating unequaled ambience As Ceccarius explained it, "Il wanted them [the which the of Fascism . . . find its to to representation may worthy Emperors] close Him."36 Spaccarelli urged Mussolini let With the landmark Lateran Pact the him same to frame."28 signed, Borgo do the for the Borgo: open the vista bring the a a to offered prime opportunity for significant urban interven pope closer II Duce. tion: the visual axis to "the to make Mussolini brandished the ceremonial over the opening majestic temple" pickax "par clear the relation between the universal of the asitic and of the on authority profane constructions" spina October 29, were Church and the Fascist nation that hosts and protects it. 1936, and within twelve months all cleared away, includ The 1931 master plan was developed during Francesco ing the Vatican's Palazzo dei Convertendi. The Vatican 's term in office as to of Boncompagni governatore (1928 agreed this property's demolition, pending negotiation It not at first a shift of its extraterritorial status to another site 35). did include plans for the Borgo because the comparable not the Palazzo dei pact's subcommission still had finished with the bound nearby. Meanwhile, decorative elements from in after Vatican was and of interest ary issues. Only June 1933, the satisfied Convertendi other buildings any aesthetic with the ongoing negotiations, did Pope Pius XI mention to were saved and stored in warehouses. Bottai ordained that of Rome an or the governatore that urban project for the Borgo, "the buildings of notable historical monumental value be now outside the was or rebuilt the new The residents of pope's purview, opportune.29 Giuseppe kept along alignment."37 in the were en masse in Bottai, governatore 1935, pursued the Borgo clearance district, however, displaced settlements even to project after his transfer the ministry of education ("borgate") beyond the city's edges, following the regime's (Ministero della Educazione Nazionale) in 1937, demonstrat policy in the 1930s of urban depopulation. a interest in the of urban that had been on a ing keen strategy planning Spaccarelli working Borgo urban develop of the he the ment his concretized ideals regime served. Addressing plan since 1934, when he had Mussolini's ear, but first national on urban Bottai declared met with harsh criticism in the Piacentini in congress planning, plans press.38 before of tervened a and he the gathering engineers, architects, jurists, and by working up counterproposal, eventually the sciences most conditioned invited to influence sociologists that "among by Spaccarelli collaborate. Piacentini, whose the life of the urbanism is the least ab with officials was far than political country government greater Spaccarelli's, stract. . . . urbanism is itself . . . The in his moreover, political. city always encouraged collaborative work because experi must be considered a functional element of the ence it not better but also to nation."30 only produced results presented The seats of administration and its cultural in the overseers the of a and government regime image productive efficient stitutions were conceived to fuse Rome's with the The team answered to Governa design professional syndicate.39 only nation's interests. "The of the tore no development city, isolating its Bottai, while the pope played direct role in the devel monumental areas and residential is the of the new street. The took restructuring zones, opment designers suggestions material that hails the of the from the for from direc sign resurgence Empire."31 Vatican, example, Giuseppe Momo, the of urban were at tor of the Although group design professionals Vatican architectural office, author of articles with on onetime with Piacen work many aspects of Rome's development, the official implicit papal benediction, collaborator Palazzo "foundation legend" for the Borgo project, typical of Fascist tini, and architect selected for the rebuilding of the has it that on dei Convertendi at its new site. Giulio a Vatican public works, Mussolini himself, inaugurating Tardini, to made all historic from the ar the restored Castel Sant'Angelo in April 1934, turned then researcher, earlier projects the and as the chives available to the Bottai's was in Borgo nearby "spontaneously," trope goes, designers.40 guidance to un a of "resolved confront the problem that had remained strumental in realizing the scheme in period simulta for The restoration across Rome. The done centuries."32 of the castle, orga neous, often competitive urban projects nized an clearance of the Mausoleum of or the of the by Attilio Spaccarelli, indeed presented apposite Augustus design model for the intervention in the Via the Fora with its Borgo.33 dell'Impero through Imperial planned as the of were The Castel Sant'Angelo originated mausoleum site of the Fascist party headquarters high-priority party but it The or fair Emperor , had been converted under papal projects. Foro Mussolini sports complex the into medieval Rome's most fortress. For for the world's could also have dominion powerful grounds E42, upcoming fair, a reconnais and funds. its modern restoration, Spaccarelli began with drawn away vital support Bottai, keeping vigilant sance he relative to in which his could best serve the of the layered site by which assessed the ways project regime, on of value of its various elements. The less significant accretions relied the collaboration several cabinet colleagues, were out minister of Dino Alfieri. It was edited and the remaining salient features empha especially the propaganda, sized with carefully framed views to them. Thus, Spaccarelli Bottai who defined the political nature of the urban project created a setting that best explained the inherent importance when he chose the name for the new street: the Via della of the He called it "an from a sc?no Conciliazione?the Street of the place. optimal position Reconciliation.41 a in numerous commis graphie point of view" that "might give comprehensive Piacentini, involved large planning of the the historian and two of the aforementioned impression" complex.34 Ceccarius, sions, including (Via dell'Impero of the was the often supporter restoration, applauded Spaccarelli's work, and E42), ideal project designer. Piacentini FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 755

of concerned "the from the side. For the central window of Pius XI's repeated that the work urbanism concep example, tion of of the and research into the new Pinacoteca built Luca Bel space, perspective setting, Vatican (picture gallery) by best of view from which to a monument or in was called the points enjoy trami 1932 framed what poetically gallery's monuments to characteristics? according their architectural "quadro michelangiolesco" (Michelangesque picture) (Fig. even out one ever able to sometimes their errors."42 Piacentini rarely articulated 14) ,49 Tardini pointed that "no has been terms never a with his own what the simultaneous and his design ideas in of politics, and he held verify eyes impression in contrast to his in Nazi vision of Maderno's facade and cu political post, counterpart , complete Michelangelo's Albert relation Piacentini and Speer. Bottai's supervision and the project's pola make."50 Recalling Fontana, Spaccarelli to Lateran Pact the context in the a the provide political which sought comprehensive vision of the whole building. Simply Via della Conciliazione can The virtue of the far the be read. political importance by pulling back vantage point enough, to state of a Roman Cath of a coherent elevation of the was the Fascist reconciliation with the clarity structure's parts was state one olic Church demonstrated in the efforts the then perceivable also from the front. Now saw, Piacentini to on the "structure in its in all its undertook design its side of the boundary the grandest wrote, entirety, divine propor entrance ever to a state. tions that any government built neighboring tie together the facade, the cupola and the smaller and The idea that the of a , explain them."51 setting monument more Fascist Urban Design Strategies famous might be made comprehensible accu to a was to Piacentini and Spaccarelli synthesized the design ideas the viewer through later remanagement key Pia mulated since Bramante fulfilled centini and street was and the contemporary po Spaccarelli's urban design. The thus in conceived the various means of urban to litical agenda implicit the Via della Conciliazione project. "through design In a series of 1944 the ensemble understood in an and articles published between 1936 and the bring together organic out idea in order to accentuate better the Michelan designers spelled their guiding issues: isolation of the unifying monument and to the control of The visual on visibility dome, perspective gesque miracle."52 emphasis Michelangelo's and of the and the new in to depth framing vista, investing space dome, especially relation Bramante's original concep with mani tion for the is consonant with the stature both Re symbolic meaning.43 Spaccarelli's design strategy church, fest at the Castel their Sant'Angelo informed procedure. naissance architects enjoyed in the late nineteenth and early out as They evaluated the layered site and edited the medieval twentieth centuries exemplars of architectural achieve then went on to frame the classical features of the ment. The of as structures, historical memory Michelangelo, particularly church to create an vision of it. a of Italian was in explanatory, comprehensive paragon genius, instrumental creating In carrying out their intentions, the Via della Conciliazione proud cultural touchstones of nationalist spirit by the Fascist to to shapes the urban vista express the state's relationship regime. church in terms Lateran Pact. was most the consistent with the This Although the dome the salient feature, Piacentini of urban is evident in less did not take it as strategy planning other, although the reference point for the axial alignment in Fascist Rome. of the new With the dome-nave orientation out complete, examples elsewhere thoroughfare. In to and for the monu of looking achieve isolation visibility alignment with the obelisk-piazza line, Piacentini and Piacentini and to Bra the ment, Spaccarelli naturally turned Spaccarelli chose axis suggested by Sixtus's obelisk?that mante as their Ever since Bramante first shifted to in relation to of starting point.44 is, slightly the north the body the of a dome for St. the distinct thought Peter's, skyline element church. The dome is off center in the vista of the Via della became the salient feature for all Roman churches. The Conciliazione. The street locks into the geometry of the modern Bramante's which center designers interpreted drawing, piazza, obelisk, and facade line. The modern design featured on the cover of their as a ers they report,45 reorganiza judged that given the large bulk, circular form, and great tion of the to classical architectural of was to Borgo according princi height the dome, the unprepared eye less likely with the new a ples compatible church (Fig. 13). On Tardini's notice its displacement, while the obelisk's needle provides Piacentini and did not either and obvious reference the facade down authority, Spaccarelli question precise point against the attribution or the matter of this "Bra the axial The new street subject drawing: vista. trajectory of the axis also mante could'nt ac to [sic] have conceived that people should corresponded Viviani's extended crosstown artery, which cede to the of the Catholics narrow was included also in the 1931 master of visual great Temple through plan. Concepts and crooked lanes, and he had understood both the moral alignment on the obelisk typical of the planning tradition of and need of a noble and monumental alto Sixtus V as for Rome's in spiritual transit, prevailed, they had expansion the to the Piacentini and late nineteenth and a coherent connection between gether proportionate temple."46 Spac century, carelli from this a the church of St. Peter's and the was realized. extrapolated drawing logic that might city finally determine a modern consonant with the ideas of the the and was the next space Controlling perspective framing pri masters earlier who had worked there.47 Similarly, the six ority. With the spina cleared, the breadth of the space opened fresco in the Vatican that teenth-century Library anticipated between the Borgo Nuovo and the Borgo Vecchio proved a St. Peter's was taken as authentic to Michelan immense. The needed to be completed space carefully structured. Its Not funnel-like a for gelo's intention (Fig. 5).48 until the demolition of the shape posed problem, unlike the trapezoidal had the dome ever been seen from the of nearest en spina satisfactorily space Bernini's piazza Maderno's facade that front. the drum of the dome and the smaller hances the sense of street of Furthermore, scale, here the divergent walls over not a vast subsidiary domes the aisles could be glimpsed from such long and space would, Piacentini predicted, dilate in to scale even a the front of the building any meaningful way in relation references and risk swallowing St. Peter's in the structure from which rise. This was reverse two they only possible perspective effect. "The 'monumentalities,' that ART BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER 4 756

' f*ft?'.?VEisM-i" *'/?'i4*f?r* ' (,\??\-"V*,," '''V"41

' * ' ' ' ' '' ' * :..: .'. "! . . >.:' * V: '/''"' ''*- "' ''???"*'- ??"?i.'S'-'?*'' '??:? ?' ?S: 13 Attributed to Donato Bramante, Borgo clearance and reconstruction ca. as on sketches, 1510, reproduced the cover of Piacentini and Spaccarelli, in Memoria sugli studi, 1944 (artwork the public domain; photograph ? Biblioteca Apost?lica Vaticana)

in some counteract The masters of Renaissance of space and that of the buildings, ways perceive perspective depth.57 and urban like worked out each other," Piacentini wrote.54 The pope concurred.55 Dis perspective space, Bramante, for and the to then tant axial vistas can often eliminate the sense of space alto systems of fictive space paintings stage view the the same visual to the of real in gether, like the famous keyhole telescoping through bring rigor perception space on the the Piacentini and carried on this tradition in Maltese garden the Aventine Hill through which city. Spaccarelli seems with the creation of a calibrated and urban vista. The dome of St. Peter's close by. "This funnel solution, legible reverse Piacentini "would have measured view created at St. Peter's the its perspective," concluded, perspective permits street the of St. viewer it to be of the canceled any rapport between the and facade approaching fully cognizant deep space, to the real distance and then differentiate the Peter's, abolishing the optical effect of distance and bringing perceive space an of the Vatican from the that leads to it. The Via della the church forward in incomprehensible fashion."56 city the in a controlled Conciliazione therefore was to set the Vatican The designers delimited space perspec designed apart of from the as Fontana's would have tive setting (Fig. 15). They proposed to straighten the sides city, interruption done, the facade walls of the new street in and to make clear the distinction inherent in the the opened area, setting diplomatic a corridor of as to walls that of mutual parallel space opposed diverging pact sovereignties. street closer would have been implied by the Borgo Nuovo trajectory. The With parallel facades brought together along this new were referred to as the new the Vecchio's troublesome sides of perspective setting quinte, thoroughfare, Borgo to in 1776 was the word for a theater set's side flats that allow the eye point of entry, apparent Morelli's project (Fig. 8), FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 757

15 "Schema" for the conception of parallel facade walls along the Via della Conciliazione, 1938. Location unknown (from Luigi Respighi, "Studio di prospettiva nella demolizione dei Borghi,"L77r??>3, no. 3 [1938]: 35)

new focus to As the perspective setting shifted the the for the modern church facade, the overall design problem of architects became coordinating all the various elements into a vision: Mi the site comprehensive Maderno's facade, Bernini's Piacentini understood chelangelo's cupola, piazza. as in an Bernini's piazza unresolved, especially the issue of optimal view to the dome. He criticized the colonnade in this "It never with the dome entra mai in respect: aligns [non con la an in that quadro cupola]" using expression, quadro, means in Italian both visual and fram 59 alignment pictorial 14 Framed view of St. Peter's dome from the central window ing.59 an on of the Pinacoteca Vaticana, reproduced in article the One discovers the Bernini on en Borgo clearance project, Llllustrazione Vaticana 8 (1937): 881 superb portico by only and it exalt and reinforce the tering the piazza, might facade, but it never aligns [in quadro] with the dome. What a magical effect itmight have had (let us make a fanciful no a Indeed, the line of the to connect marvel longer problem. encroaching hypothesis) had Bernini been able his Vecchio that frustrated earlier did not need Borgo designers lous frame [cornice] to Michelangelo's work, fusing in a to were be altered after all, and three buildings there saved: the the and the single image portico, facade, cupola!60 the Penitenzieri, Serristori, and Cesi palaces (Figs. 16, 20). The decision for parallel street facade walls preserved the line Piacentini and Spaccarelli strove for a solution in which all to to the elements of the historical site come of the Borgo Vecchio the south, but the Borgo Nuovo various layered might the was in a framed With north obliterated. together coherent, self-explanatory picture. As eliminating the Borgo Nuovo was rife with political this site, they had taken on the challenge of making all its not sense implications, it could have been undertaken merely for elements make together. the reason It forever remain aesthetic of changing the perspective. They considered whether Bernini's piazza should as he left it at his or with a terzo blocked the departing path of the pope's possesso and shifted open-ended, death, enclosed the focus of the street from the onto the modern and away pope's palace braccio. Piacentini, anticipating scholarship rely was on Fontana's was convinced that Bernini church instead. Canceling the path of the possesso indeed ing publication, consonant with the renunciation of claims at pope's temporal considered clearing the Borgo the open end of his pi to Lateran was in The terms in debate according the Pact. The Vatican accord with azza.61 used the twentieth-century op in a to a via to an ambiente chiuso this move, which is confirmed signed agreement posed aperta (open street) (en transfer its Palazzo dei once in the center of the closed The former to the ten Convertendi, space). corresponded political to a across Nuovo of the state over the spina, plot laid the former Borgo roadbed dency of greater control church, typical own (Fig. 17).58 The Vatican's building blocks the Borgo of late-nineteenth-century interventionists, while the latter Nuovo. This a to an constitutes significant change the city's idea of enclosing the piazza emphasized isolating and to a act of the Vatican. Piacentini consulted historical fabric, and its alteration is tied specific of protective guarantee exact and still applicable political parameters. Neither the Tardini. Tardini clarified the desired visual effect, similar to nor state the church at a distance down the Roman Catholic Church the Italian required the setting respectful perspec Nuovo tive as "the full and connection between Rome Borgo any longer. axis, perfect ART BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER 4 768

versus street 16 Marcello Piacentini and Attilio Spaccarelli, preliminary plans for Via della Conciliazione, "funnel"-shape "parallel" "Basilica Vaticana e Llllustrazione Vaticana 7 facade alignments, 1936. Location unknown (from Giulio Tardini, Borghi," [1936]: fig. 54)

the lateral extent of Bernini's As and the Vatican, between the Capital of Italy and the brand approach, colonnades.65 new where a spiritual authority is exercised Piacentini understood it, Bernini considered the alternative without limits in time or Tardini recommended that for the terzo braccio in order to indicate "the space."62 position perfect think of a a . .but not an for the of the two colonnaded they "binding" element, "separation. position complete enjoyment of the Vatican from the the and the Bottai's central of isolation" city.63 arms, facade, cupola."66 point was The modern designers developed a novel solution for de praise for Piacentini and Spaccarelli's project that it "will an urbanistic fining this subtle relation between the arriving thoroughfare integrate Michelangelo's work with Bernini's, in the most left unresolved for centu and the preexisting piazza unprecedented the history of problem among arduous, a At we stand at the threshold of thinking about the Borgo redevelopment. At point 330 feet ries."67 Piacentini's propylaea, a in vision the (100 meters) from the edge of the piazza, they indicated the Vatican, and this comprehensive cupola, street with two and are held constriction of the vista along the opened facade, piazza together. want to buildings to form what they called a "vertical separation" Not only did the modern designers bring the two to the Vati elements of the historical site in a between "robust shoulders," the "propylaea" together comprehensive can in new also to viewers a to see the City (Fig. 18).64 The pinch the street's width vision, they sought give way history it is not an of this site with a critical Maderno's suggests the separation, but accompanied by evolving sharpened eye. an nave interruption of the vista that isolates the Vatican. They called facade remained irksome problem. As it, along with structures or a and was added to the after the dome in these flanking quinte, proscenium, relying narthex, complex on The architec in were the again the language of the perspective stage. back and obelisk front already in place, length forms of Piacentini's were derived from Ber church and the of its facade made it tural propylaea ened body of the height located the to see from front. The facade nini's upper trapezoidal piazza. Piacentini propy difficult the famous cupola the once the terzo braccio was the fact that the laea where Bernini sketched pulled-back design further compromised by planned were never (Fig. 6). They indicate a conclusion to the piazza space in flanking bell towers built. Although many archi to tects the seventeenth wished to distinction to the street that leads it. The path reopens up throughout century complete at the best spot to take in, for the first time along the axis of the vertical accents that the bell towers would have offered, FRAMING ST. PETERS: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 759

frit** ? ***-' M: fhrt $~f noNt xiv into *I i'-Zzzf

MHU Ma

17 Palazzo dei Convertendi, Rome, treaty agreement for shift of extraterritoriality, June 15, 1938. Governatorato di Roma, Servizio Contratti, Archivio Storico Capitolino, Rome

structural forbade it. The was so to a complications facade, therefore, The propylaea carefully placed designate threshold left with an overpowering horizontal accent, and Maderno's along the thoroughfare also served to mask at left and right work never enjoyed a favorable critical reception. Even the the excessive breadth of Maderno's facade viewed between normally equable Tardini wrote with irony, "And the facade? them (Fig. 1). The edges of the vista have been adjusted to seems to cover so that once two It best it up the masterpieces provide "an entirely different framing to the composition" are care [Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's piazza] taken (Fig. 2).71 The cropping focuses the view on the central parts not so of, the faults of this worthy but great architect might of the facade: the four columns and pediment at its heart, as if Mi remain in shadow."68 Between the masterpieces of referring to Michelangelo's intention as recorded in the in a a chelangelo and Bernini, Maderno's facade was, way, Vatican Library fresco (Fig. 5). The propylaea, however, are weak link. Here was one of the "errors" Piacentini of in spoke not too high to obscure the inscription that runs across the with urban around famous nor on new dealing planning preexisting facade intrude the skyline against the dome. The works.69 Piacentini it its explained judiciously: framing also retrieves from the facade central vertical accent, which Piacentini thought characteristic of church Maderno created in this way a facade of aust?re and most facades as opposed to palaces. Piacentini and Spaccarelli solemn lines, undoubtedly lively, but disorganized and have provided a way of looking at the complex, specifically chaotic, not legible. (Pew architects would be able to draw the problematic facade, that helps us see beyond its faults and it from memory.) There is a series of unexplainable mold find what logic lay at the origin of Maderno's ideas. In short, ing lines that together seem almost senseless, full of vary to use Piacentini's term, made the facade are but are they legible. ing motifs. Some details rather tasteful, others All contemporary critics picked up on the aspect of cor handled and put in spaces not to poorly proportionate that the view recting Maderno's facade. Ceccarius noted up them. He broadened it [the facade] to an excessive degree the Via della Conciliazione had the "advantage of framing the beyond the edges of the building in order to support the Temple and presenting its essential parts, eliminating from two bell towers which, despite numerous attempts, had to the vista the parts corresponding to the bases of the bell be renounced. He kept the stripped quality of Michelan towers to an elon that, added the facade, give excessively gelo's main cornice line, which has its logic on the flanks The architectural historian Armando and apses under the command of the Cupola, but across gated appearance."72 Schiavo, one of the very few Italians to continue to say any the principal facade is pulled taut and flat and seems thing positive about the Via della Conciliazione, was entirely insufficient. He deprived it of a strong central accent to satisfied when Piacentini explained the framing device to the point that, apart from the suggestion you get from the him.73 it would not occur to to symbols and the statuary, you a so that its think it the facade of a Church, but rather a pompous and Reshaping place history might immediately make sense to the viewer was a of many Fascist-era monumental public building.70 goal interventions in the historic center of Rome: from the resto on were common era. of the Mau Piacentini's comments the facade for the ration of the Castel Sant'Angelo, the clearance was uncommon was his to about it. to more site of the What attempt do something soleum of Augustus, the vastly complicated ART VOLUME LXXXVIII 770 BULLETIN NUMBER 4

18 Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "propylaea" in adjustable full scale models, 1938 (from Llllustrazione Vaticana mock-up May 19 Piacentini and Spaccarelli, full-scale mock-up of the 9 [1938]: 357) interrompimento under construction, December 1938 (photograph ? Istituto Luce, Rome)

Via Rome's dell'Impero through ancient imperial remains. all the of urban in these visits. was never Among projects planning Fascist Rome, The pope invited, although the first the Via della Conciliazione the vista to the was only controls definitive model brought to him in June 1936 "for his extent of the viewer with an articulated under an to informing approval," and he made unofficial visit the cleared site of the subtle internal of site. in met on standing dynamics the layered October 1937, only by the architects.78 Full-scale Political was site models were to the The symbolism the driving factor of the Via della also made gauge framing effect. Conciliazione. It one of the ur were canvas to was, however, simultaneous propylaea mocked up in wood and check their ban under at the and even after Mussolini's most projects way time, proportions from all points of view (Fig. 18). But the famous fall of the pickax and the swift demolition of the famous of the models for the Via della Conciliazione was the realization of the Via was never made to test of a a spina, della Conciliazione the effect nobile interrompimento, still Bottai faced other on guaranteed. competition among the lingering possibility (Fig. 19). A full-scale mock-up wheels for Mussolini's attention. The fact that the new street was to the effect of a horizontal projects planned gauge separation had no institution to be housed in new an to see major anchoring its and enclosed piazza, then it would be wheeled away also its The Via the an street. Piacentini said his model buildings jeopardized progress. dell'Impero, space along open for more difficult an urban was would be like a Ceccarius example, although vastly task, theater stage's changing set.79 intended to house the Fascist and the site called it a "mobile Excitement over the party headquarters, wittily interruption."80 could be seen from Mussolini's office. The Piazza event mounted in of an Augusto anticipation engineering feat remi around the Mausoleum of had the test Imperatore Augustus niscent of the raising of the Vatican obelisk, but the did social administration for its not take of some security pushing completion. place, perhaps because technical glitch, was an And E42, the world's fair planned for Rome, urban record of which the Fascist ideal of efficiency has struck from of for international were not at project high priority the state's represen the record.81 Full-scale architectural mock-ups all uncommon or tation.74 Therefore, many highly realistic presentation mod either during this period in the history of the els were made to fire Mussolini's interest in of St. At this it was also the project. planning Peter's piazza. time, pro were in the rooms to build an exact of Bernini's terzo These displayed upper of the Castel posed mock-up missing had been a to test an Sant'Angelo, where the architects given studio, braccio its effect, too.82 The architects remarked that and from where the authorities could look out over to at time the site interrompimento could any be built between the open the some of if future envisage suggested changes directly.75 Indeed, ends of their propylaea conditions, like security were as their backs an the models made viewing boxes, left open concerns, required enclosure. to the actual view to the the new street cupola, foreground masked with The architecture along the combined preexist cutouts of the to be This of structures in situ an of new structures painted changes made.76 type ing and equal number most literal visual presentation was, Piacentini realized, the (Fig. 20). Six old buildings remained: the Palazzo Giraud means to effective of communicating the project the dictator, Torlonia, Palazzo Latmiral, the church of S. Maria in unlike Adolf had no notions of to to the the who, Hitler, preconceived Traspon tina with the north, and south, architecture or urbanism. Therefore, Mussolini made several Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, Palazzo Serristori, and Palazzo Cesi on-site of the work in where the archi on the Vecchio two structures off the inspections progress, Borgo (plus thorough tects in obliged with able explanations of the effects (Fig. 2). fare: the small chapel of S. Lorenzo Piscibus and the Bottai and Virgilio Testa, his secretary, and Dino Alfieri, the Oratorio dell'Annunciatrice). Five other structures, Palazzo Fascist of active in dei the house of Giacomo Party's minister propaganda, many aspects Convertendi, and Bartolomeo da of the were in for of Governatore Rusticucci regime's presentation, always attendance Brescia, the palaces the del Borgo, IN FRAMING ST. PETERS: URBAN PLANNING FASCIST ROME 771

house of AU* /.lltorlonial/cmo L\ current Palazzo dei Convertendi "* Piazza PrApylaeum] f former Palazzo ' tr dei Convertendi Scossacavalli , Piazza P?o XII o -e r f, ,t m * s; , ?SanGiacomo ?_-"-^--^-u'T'nC C H ' - 1-?"O R'-Q O VE

Oratorio dell'Annonciatrice

new structures 20 Via della Conciliazione, preexisting buildings, former Borgo blocks, and outlines of (diagram by Linda Nolan)

Accoramboni, and degli Alicorni were dismantled, their dec orative elements saved for reuse.83 Only the Palazzo dei Con vertendi, with a living institution housed in it, was moved and rebuilt at its new site, by Giuseppe Momo, with the intention of preserving its original identity. It is the only building moved that retained its name and continues to serve its

previous function. Piacentini and Spaccarelli could not maintain control over the architectural design of all the new buildings that were to as owners were free to line the street, the plots' individual contract architects of their choice. Piacentini's opinion of their work was rather low. Furthermore, the uneven mixture of preexisting, recomposed, and brand-new buildings 21 Piacentini and view of Via della Conciliazione seemed less than ideal to hold the perspective setting. Pia Spaccarelli, with obelisks added, location unknown centini therefore added obelisks to the 21). drawing, (from project (Fig. ? Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi; photograph obelisks, each feet (nine meters) Twenty-eight thirty high, Biblioteca Apost?lica Vaticana) were devised to line the Via della Conciliazione. Composed of assembled blocks, they integrate benches at their on base and bronze lanterns top. Piacentini explained them as useful seats for tired pilgrims and lamps for evening pro During the Fascist period, obelisks acquired also a strong constituted and in other cessions. They also "clear, equal rhythmic political meaning. They figured prominently major of and the street" a subtext: at the Foro elements continuity unity along and, again, urban projects with clear imperialist functioned as quinte to make palpable the depth of space.84 Mussolini and E42. Piacentini introduced the idea of obelisks Piacentini first planned seven obelisks on each side, but he along the street in 1936,85 coinciding with Mussolini's decla cover ration of a Fascist in emulation of the ancient. From later doubled their number for greater emphasis and empire so age of the irregular facade wall, especially as it is seen at a his first colonial exploit in Ethiopia, Mussolini had the as a raking angle down the vista. Their white travertine picks up called Obelisk of Axum brought to Rome resonant the tonalities of the church facade, while their smaller size "symbol of the new Italic Empire."86 Along the Via della leaves the obelisk in the piazza as the dominant note. They Conciliazione, the obelisks took on a similar imperialist over as also help to diminish the space's excessive width, making it tone. They tie together religious and imperialist meanings, more of a longitudinal street and less of a wide piazza, a the Lateran Pact tied the church and the state together. The feeling that Piacentini wanted to avoid. Yet the screen of state, like all political entities that sought papal support, as one none to asso obelisks is transparent goes up the street, falling hoped validate its imperialist aspirations through the directly in front of any important facade. Piacentini initially ciation with the Catholic Church's universal authority, limit set them in straight lines but changed their path to gentle less in time and space, to recall Tardini's characterization of arcs that better draw the perspective view along in a dynamic the Vatican in the modern era. frame (Fig. 1). The obelisks of the Via della Conciliazione also illuminate a of In a street at illumination was a dra The obelisks convey variety symbolic meanings. the night (Fig. 22). Urban new city with obelisks marking all the important churches, the matic feature of the Fascist city.87 In preparation for line of obelisks leading to the one signaling St. Peter's am Hitler's visit to Rome in May 1938, the newly opened Via was plifies this pilgrimage destination like a climactic chorus. dellTmpero through the ancient city lined with torches 22 Via d?lia Conciliazione with obelisks illuminated (photograph by the author)

23 Alfredo Furiga, ephemeral decoration of the Via dell'Impero, Rome, May 1938. Photograph, location unknown (from Bozzetti di addobbo delVUrbeper la visita del F?hrer / Die Ausschm?ckungsentw?rfe der Stadt Roms fur den Besuch des F?hrers [Rome: Tumminelli, 1938], unnumbered plates "Via dell'Impero / Imperiumstrasse" )

and gigantic imperial emblems (Fig. 23).88 In their sacraliza Via della Conciliazione offered not only a grand entrance to tion of Fascists use of a means politics, the made heavy large-scale, the neighboring Vatican but also of controlling and emblems that combine multivalent historical mes the Vatican to state. blazing binding the Piacentini 's design makes in the Vatican one a of sages, especially prevalent ephemeral decoration of the among constellation important govern city coordinated by Alfieri. The illuminating obelisks have a ing images of the national capital. In political terms, the Via similar aggressive quality of ideological celebration.89 della Conciliazione articulated the union of the spiritual This the of an at St. of the church to the of the state. merging of religious symbolism obelisk authority temporal authority Peter's with the of a was a suggestion imperialism triggers pertinent The Via della Conciliazione costly investment that political reading of the Via della Conciliazione: what was reaped a profit for the Italian nation by broadcasting its role once a of the of Rome had been turned as the territorial a path pope's possesso guarantor of world spiritual leader and around as Rome's of the Vatican. Piacentini and the possession associating pope's universal authority with Mussolini's in to Spaccarelli conceived the Via della Conciliazione solely aspirations imperial power. terms of the view of and movement toward the Vatican. The Critical sources of the period confirm the imperialist inter FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN FASCIST ROME 773

of the obelisks. Ceccarius described the Via della deiristituto di Storia dell'Architettura, n.s., 25-30 (1995-97) (Rome: pretation versus Bonsignori, 1997), 435-44; and Flavia Marcello, "Rationalism Conciliazione as order to the access to the having "given Romanit?: The Changing Role of the Architect in the Creation of the greatest temple of Christianity that would be worthy of Rome Ideal Fascist City" (PhD diss., University of Sydney, 2001), 116-20. reawakened to its new who 2. Rudolf "II terzo braccio del Bernini in S. Pietro," imperial destiny."90 Giovannoni, Wittkower, piazza Bollettino d'Arte 34 (1949): 129-34, translated as "The Third Arm of had been shut out of the planning process by Piacentini Bernini's Piazza S. Pietro," in Studies in the Italian Baroque (London: because of his once unleashed growing intransigent nature, Thames and Hudson, 1975), 60; and Hellmut Hager, "Progetti del from Fascist censure in 1945 called the obelisks "an infatua tardo barocco per il terzo braccio in Piazza San Pietro," Commentari 19 311. tion with affected After the fall of the (1968): imperialism."91 regime, 3. See "The of Nicholas V for the Piacentini their Torgil Magnuson, Project Rebuilding indeed, downplayed political meaning by Borgo Leonino in Rome," Art Bulletin 36 (1954): 89-115. never to them as obelisks but instead as stele, again referring 4. See Horst G?nther, "Die Strassenplannung unter dem Medici-P?psten or candelabra, or even stations of the cross.92 To all commen in Rome (1513-1534)," Jahrbuch des Zentralinstituts f?r Kunstgeschichte 1 (1985): 287-93; Eunice Howe, "Alexander VI, Pinturicchio and the tators the obelisks remained of Fascist impe always symbols Fabrication of the Via Alessandrina in the Vatican Borgo," in An Archi rialism.93 The surprising reality of the obelisks is that they tectural Progress in theRenaissance and Baroque: Sojourns In and Out of It Penn were and erected in after aly, ed. Henry Mill?n and Susan Munshower (University Park: ultimately approved 1950, years State University Press, 1992), vol. 1, 64-93; Enrico Guidoni and Giulia Fascism's fall.94 Their and with religious symbolism remains, Petrucci, Roma, Via Alessandrina: Una strada "tra due Fondai" nell'Italia economic restraints on the architecture behind them, their delle Corti (1492-1499) (Rome: Kappa, 1997). even more 5. Galler?a Uffizi, Florence, Gabinetto e Uff. 23. masking function became important. More signif degli Disegni Stampe, See Heinrich von Geym?ller, Die urspr?nglichen Entw?rfe f?r Sankt Peter the Christian-Democrat party power icantly, ruling taking in Rom von Bramante (Vienna: Lehmann, 1875), pi. 25, fig. 1 ("Studie nor after Fascism did not alter the terms of the Lateran Pact f?r den Umbau des Borgo?"). of its not to same zur the basis political advantage, although the 6. See Christof Thoenes, "Studien Geschichte des Peterplatzes," Cesare Gli ends. The Lateran Pact is in effect Zeitschrift f?r Kunstgeschichte 26 (1963): 128-34; D'Onofrio, still today. obelischi di Roma, 2nd ed. (Rome: Bulzoni, 1967), 77-80; and Richard With its articulated relation to the carefully preexisting Krautheimer, The Rome of Alexander VII, 1655-1667 (Princeton: Prince of to created ton Press, 64. See also Allan Ceen, "The Grande Pi elements, its specificity meaning the society that University 1985), anta of G. B. Nolli as an Instrument of Urban in Giambattista its to Via Analysis," it, and observers today, the della continuing clarity Nolli, Imago Urbis, and Rome, conference proceedings, May 31-June 4, as an Conciliazione, after all, has demonstrated its worth 2003 (forthcoming). exemplary modern space in the historical city. To Catholic 7. See Christof Thoenes, "Madernos St.-Peter-Entw?rfe," in Mill?n and An Architectural in theRenaissance and vol. a on the Munshower, Progress Baroque, pilgrims, it presents visually powerful climax ap 1, 169-93; and Augusto Roca de Amicis, "La facciata di S. Pietro: Ma to the most church for their To proach important religion. derno e la ricezione dei progetti Michelangioleschi nel primo se to site with'a the framed icento," in L'architettura della Basilica di San Pietro, 279-84. the historian coming the critical eye, Spagnesi, a of Vatican 8. Discussion before the Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro, February 6, vista provides comprehensive vision the long 1651, Bibilioteca Apost?lica Vaticana (hereafter BAV), Vat. lat. 11257, of To the visitor attuned to sought by generations planners. fol. 7r: "pro maiori ac longiori prospectu templi Vaticani demolire the della a omnes domos intermedias inter veteram et novum. . . ." See its political issues, Via Conciliazione expresses Burgos Franz "Dalle carte e dai di Atti della Pon of and is still relevant Ehrle, disegni Virgilio Spada," relationship religion government that tificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia, 3rd ser. Memorie, 2 (1928): in at Con Italy. As the latest layer St. Peter's, the Via della 1-98. ciliazione a effective device which proves remarkably through 9. See Carlo Fontana, 77 Tempio Vaticano e sua origine (Rome: Buagni, we this historical site and its cultural 1694), 208-9, reprinted as II Tempio Vaticano 1694, Carlo Fontana, ed. may experience complex Giorgio Curcio (Milan: Electa, 2003), 128-29; Timothy K. Kitao, Circle context in a clear and informed way. and Oval in the Square of 's: Bernini's Art of Planning (New York: New York University Press, 1974), 56-61; Krautheimer, The Rome of Alexander VII, 68-69, 180-81; and see generally Heinrich Brauer and Rudolf Wittkower, Die Zeichnungen des Gianlorenzo Bernini (Berlin: Kirk teaches art and architectural at the American Terry history Keller, 1931), 69-90. See also Thoenes, "Studien zur Geschichte des Rome. He has in the and Hellmut Carlo Fontana e la University of specialized late-nineteenth-century Peterplatzes," 97-145; Hager, "Bernini, fortuna del 'terzo braccio' del colonnato di San Pietro in Vati as recent piazza urban transformation of Rome the national capital. His cano," in Spagnesi, L'architettura della Basilica di San Pietro, 337-60. two-volume survey The Architecture of Modern Italy (Princeton 10. BAV, Codice Chigi AI19, fol. 68r. See Andrea Busiri-Vici, La Piazza di to re Architectural Press) invites students and colleagues further San Pietro in Vaticano nei secoli XV, XVI, eXVII, suoi miglioramenti, usi e Arts dipendenze (Rome: Civelli, 1893); and Brauer and Wittkower, Die Zeich search [Department of and Humanities, the American Univer nungen des Bernini, 86, fig. 63a. sity of Rome, Via Pietro Roselli 4, Rome 00153 Italy, 11. Fontana, II Tempio Vaticano, 209: "per ben comprendere il contorno del [email protected]]'. Tempio." See also ibid., 208-9, 227-29, pis. 211, 213, 221, 223, 225, 231; idem, II Tempio Vaticano 1694, 128-31, 146-53; Eduard Couden hove-Erthal, Carlo Fontana und die Architektur des R?mischen Sp?tbarocks Notes (Vienna: Schroll, 1930), 90-96; Bianca Tavassi La Greca, "Aleuni pro blemi inerenti l'attivit? storica di Carlo Fontana," Storia de?'Arte 29 and Hellmut "Modi dall'autore la 1. For modern scholarship on the Via della Conciliazione, see Mario (1977): 43-46; Hager, proposti per terminazione della e col novo et Zocca, Topograf?a e urban?stica di Roma: Roma capitale d 'Italia (Bologna: piazza, bracci, campanile, orologio," in II Vaticano ccxxii-xxxi. Cappelli, 1958), vol. 2, 673-75, pl. clxv; ?talo Insolera, Roma moderna Fontana, Tempio 1694, Einaudi, Kostof, The Third 1870 (Turin: 1962), 132-33; Spiro Rome, 12. Terzo Antonio Polazzo, Da Gastet Sant'Angelo alla basilica di S. Pietro 1950: and of California Traffic Glory (Berkeley: University Press, 1973), (Rome: Pinci, 1948). 70-71; Walter Vannelli, Econom?a dell'architettura in Roma fascista: Il cen 13. BAV, Gabinetto di Stampe, Cartella di S. Pietro?Morelli. See Anna tro urbano (Rome: Kappa, 1981), 329-59; Vincenzo Matera, "La rico Maria Matteucci and Deanna Lenzi, Cosimo Morelli e l'architettura delle struzione del Palazzo del Governatore e del Palazzo degli Alicorni in legazioni pontificie (Bologna: University Press Bologna, 1977), 239-41; Borgo," in Anni del Governatorato, 1926-1944, intervenu urbanistici, and Jeffrey Collins, Eighteenth-Century Rome and the Cultural Politics of scoperte archeologiche, arredo urbano, restauri, ed. Luisa Cardilli (Rome: Pope Pius VI: Arsenals of Art (New York: Cambridge University Press, Kappa, 1995), 139-45; Maria Luisa Neri, "Il collegamento tra le due 2002), 94-95. citt?: L'apertura di Via della Conciliazione," in L'Architettura della ba silica di San Pietro: Storia e costruzione; Atti del Convegno Internazionale di 14. See ?talo Faldi, "La festa patri?tica della Federazione in due dipinti di Studi, Roma, novembre 1995, ed. Gianfranco Spagensi, Quaderni Felice Giani," Bollettino dei Musei comunali di Roma 2, nos. 1-2 (1955): LXXXVIII NUMBER 4 774 ART BULLETIN VOLUME

14-18; and Antonio Pinelli, "La rivoluzione imposta o della natura vita rappresentativa del Fascismo, espressione sincera della sua pro dell'entusiasmo: Fenomenolog?a della festa nella Roma giacobina," fonda vita attiva, trova la sua degna cornice." sul neoclassico, Miscellanea 4 (1978): 97-146. Quaderni 29. Vannelli, Econom?a dell'architettura in Roma fascista, 150 n. 40. 15. See Attilio La Padula, Roma e la Contributo regione nell'epoca napole?nica: 30. Giuseppe Bottai, Primo Congresso Nazionale di Urban?stica: Discorso inaugu alla storia urban?stica della citt? e del territorio IEPI, See (Rome: 1969). rale (Rome: Delle Terme, 1937), 5: "L'urbanistica ? la meno astratta ira also Valadier's earlier in Paolo Marconi, Valadier . . . proposal Giuseppe le scienze pi? condizionate della vita politica del paese, anzi (Rome: Officina, 1964), 182, 97. . . . fig. l'urbanistica ?, essa stessa, una politica. L'urbs, la citt?, deve essere come 16. See Domenico Gnoli, Nuovo accesso alia piazza di San Pietro in Roma considerata elemento funzionale della Nazione." (Rome: Laziale, 1889), 7. 31. Bottai, II rinnovamento di Roma, 3: "Lo sviluppo edilizio della citt?, l'isolamento delle zone il risanamento dei 17. See Arturo Bianchi, "Le vicende e le realizzazioni del Piano monumentali, quartieri sono i che hanno salutato il tore," Capitolium 7 (1931): 417-28; Marcello Piacentini, Le vicende edili popolari, segni materiali, risorgere zia di Roma (Rome: Palombi, 1952); Insolera, Roma moderna, 16-53; Mi dell 'Impero." chael Fried, theEternal Roman Politics and since Planning City: Planning 32. Marcello Piacentini and Attilio Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione dei Borghi WWII Haven: Yale Press, and Walter Vannelli, (New University 1973); per l'accesso a S. Pietro," Architettura 15, suppl. (1936): 21: "Il Duce, Econom?a dell'architettura in Roma liberale: Il centro urbano (Rome: Kappa, uscendo dal Parco Adrianeo, il giorno che ne fece dono al pop?lo di 1979). Roma, si sofferm? guardando all'ingresso dei Borghi e a San Pietro. Rimase immobile e In la 18. Terry Kirk, "Roman Architecture before the Lateran Pact: Architectural pensoso. quel momento, certamente, prese decisione di affrontare e risolvere il rimasto insoluto da Symbols of Reconciliation in the Competitions for the Palazzo di Gius problema secoli." tizia, 1883-87," in Guglielmo Calderini: La costruzione di un'architettura net di una Atti del ed. Fedora progetto capitale; convegno, Boco, Kirk, Giorgio 33. See Attilio Spaccarelli, "Il piano e i lavori d'assestamento [della Mole Muratore and State (Perugia: Guerra, 1996), 83-125; idem, "Church, Adriana]," Capitolium 10 (1934): 223-46. Spaccarelli's report to Musso and Architecture: The Palazzo di Giustizia of Nineteenth-Century lini of March 8, 1931, on the Castel Sant'Angelo included a proposai Rome" Columbia (PhD diss., University, 1997). for the Borgo area. ACS, Rome, Segreteria Particolare del Duce, Car in Econom?a dell'architettura 19. Andrea Busiri-Vici, L'Obeslico vaticano nel terzo centenario della sua erezione, teggio ordinario, fase. 7583, cited Vannelli, in Roma 339 n. 40. memoria storica con studii e disegni comparativi sulla meccanica e architettura fascista, dei secoli XVI e XIX e col di una dalla di San Pietro progetto galler?a piazza 34. Spaccarelli, "II piano e i lavori d'assestamento," 226-27: "un'ottima po alla Traspontina (Rome: Aureli, 1886). sizione dal punto di vista scenografica ma non rendeva possibile una sensazione sint?tica cos? necessaria elementi architettonici 20. See Eric Gugler, "Accesso alla piazza di San Pietro," ms, 1915, Ameri ovunque non ma diversi di diverse si can Academy of Rome. equivalenti, espressioni epoche giustappon gono o, addirittura, si sovrappongono, come ? il caso di Castel 21. See Marcello Piacentini, Concorso per il progetto del Palazzo dell'Esposizione Sant'Angelo." per lefeste del 1911 in Roma, Relazione, architetto Marcello Piacentini (Rome: 35. Ceccarius Cecarelli], "L'isolamento della Mole Adriana," n.p., 1908); Mich?le Capobianco, "Marcello Piacentini all'Esposizione [Giuseppe 10 (1934): 214: "incorniciare il di Roma del 1911," Architettura Quaderni 9 (1992): 93-96; and Terry Capitolium suggestivo quadro." Kirk, The Architecture ofModern Italy, vol. 1, The Challenge of Tradition, 36. Ibid., 209: "Il Duce li ha voluti vicino a Lui." 1750-1900 (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), 255-59, 37. Bottai, Superiore delle Belle Arti," October 20, 4.47. Giuseppe "Consiglio fig. 1937, quoted in Ceccarius, La "Spina" dei Borghi (Rome: Danesi, 1938), 22. Paolo Orano, L'Urbe Massima e Varchitettura di Armando Brasini (Rome: 29: "le fabbr?che di insigne valore storico o monumentale verranno e o Formaggini, 1917); and Luca Brasini, L'op?ra architettonica urban?stica rispettate ricostruite sul nuovo allineamento." Walter Vannelli, "La di Armando Brasini: Dal'Urbe Massima al sullo Stretto di Messina spina dei Borghi dopo l'Unit?: Dibattiti, progetti e questione romana," (Rome: Pagnotta, 1979). in Spagensi, L 'architettura della basilica di San Pietro, 425-34. 23. See Antonio Cederna, Mussolini urbanista (Bari: Laterza, 1979), 234. 38. See Giuseppe Andriulli, "Il problema degli accessi a S. Pietro nelle vi no. Only later in 1945 did Giovannoni recant. Gustavo Giovannoni, "'I cende edilizie dei Borghi," IIMessaggero 13, 270 (November 14, Borghi' e la 'Spina,'" in Architettura di pensiero e pensiero sull'architettura 1934): 5; idem, "La questione dei Borghi, Pianta del progetto Piacen a S. II no. (Rome: Apollon, 1945), 148-56. tini per l'accesso Pietro," Messaggero 13, 278 (November 23, 1934): 7; F.Z., "La di San Pietro e i Sisto V, Bernini e 24. See Tullio Aebischer, "La Commissione t?cnica ?talo-vaticana ed i con piazza Borghi, I," L'Osservatore Romano, 74, no. 268 (November 18, 1934): fini del Territorio Vaticano, 1929-1933," Studi Romani 48, nos. 1-2 Napoleone 5; and Lazz., "La questione di Borgo sotto l'aspetto artistico," Osserva (2000): 104-17; and idem, I verbau della Commissione t?cnica mista ?talo toreRomano 74, no. 279 (December 1, 1934): 5. vaticana (1929-1933) (Frosinone: Casamari, 2000). Documents are available in Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Rome (hereafter, ACS, 39. See Terry Kirk, The Architecture ofModern Italy, vol. 2, Visions of Utopia York: Princeton Architectural 84-94. Rome), Carte private del Duce; and La Farnesina, Rome, Affari Esten (New Press, 2005), Archivio Diplom?tico. The Vatican documents of Pope Pius XI's reign 40. See Marcello Piacentini to Armando Schiavo, October 29, 1937, cited are still unavailable. in Schiavo, "Via della Conciliazione," Strenna dei Romanisti 15 (1990): 499-508. See also Mariano e S. Pietro nel 1300-1600 25. See Virgilio Testa, "L'urban?stica e il piano regolatore di Roma," Capito Borgatti, Borgo cited in Marcello Piacentini and Attilio lium 8 (1932): 173-85; Giuseppe Bottai, 77rinnovamento di Roma (Rome: (Rome: Pustet, 1925), Spac Memoria studi e sui lavori l'accesso a S. Pietro Accademia dei Lincei, 1937), reprinted in Bottai, La pol?tica delle arti: carelli, sugli per (Rome: 13. Scritti, ed. Alessandro Masi (Rome: Editalia, 1992), 130-31; Zocca, To Velograf, 1944), pograf?a e urban?stica di Roma, 664-86; and Insolera, Roma moderna, 117-26. 41. Deliberazione del Governatorato di Roma, no. 4921 (1937), cited in La dei 28. 26. Benito Mussolini, mandate to the office of the governatore of Rome, De Ceccarius, "Spina" Borghi, cember 31, 1925, in Scritti e discorsi di Benito Mussolini, vol. 5, Dal 1925 42. Marcello Piacentini, "Problemi urbanistici di Roma," in Piacentini, al 1926 "Tra anni Roma deve (Milan: Hoepli, 1934), 243-45: cinque Amor di Roma, ed. Romolo Trinchieri (Rome: Arte della Stampa, 1956), a tutte le apparire meravigliosa genti del mondo; vasta, ordinate, po 320: "Problemi cio? che si riferiscono al concetto della spaziosit?, alle come fu ai del di Voi continuerete tente, tempi primo impero Augusto. impostazioni prospettiche, alle ricerche delle migliori condizioni dei a tronco da tutto ci? che ancora la in o liberare il della grande quercia punti di vista per godere un monumento pi? monumenti, secondo le tralcia. Farete dei varchi intorno al teatro Marcello, al Campidoglio, al loro caratteristiche architettoniche, secondo le condizioni?e aile volte Pantheon; tutto ci? che vi crebbe attorno nei secoli della decadenza anche secondo gli errori?di visibilit?, di esaltazione, di sorpresa, ecc." un deve scomparire. Entro cinque anni, da Piazza Colonna per grande 43. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione dei Borghi"; idem, "Dal vareo deve essere visibile la mole del Pantheon. Voi lib?rete anche Ponte Elio a S. Pietro," Capitolium 12 (1937): 5-26; idem, Memoria sugli dalle costruzioni e i maestosi della Roma parassitarie profane templi studi; and Piacentini, "Problemi urbanistici di Roma." cristiana. I monumenti millenar? della nostra storia debbono giganteg 44. Piacentini and "La sistemazione dei 21; idem, "Dal giare nella necessaria solitudine. Quindi la terza Roma si dilatera sopra Spaccarelli, Borghi," Ponte Elio a S. Pietro," 4; idem, Memoria sugli studi, and altri colli, lungo le rive del fiume sacro, sino alie spiagge del Tirreno." frontispiece; Piacentini, "Problemi urbanistici di Roma," 320-22. 27. Marcello Piacentini, "Foreword and Underlying Ideas," Architettura 15, 45. "Schizzo di Bramante per l'accesso a S. Pietro (dal Geym?ller)," cover suppl. (1936): 15. of Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi (Italian edition only). 28. Marcello Piacentini, "Urbanistica nella Roma Mussoliniana: I tre pi? 46. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Notes on the Studies and Clearance of the Access important! progetti edilizi in corso di esecuzione," Architettura 15, ... to S. Peters (Rome: Velograf, 1944), 7. suppl. (1936): 17: "si ? voluto , secondo il chiaro concetto del un an see Duce, rispondere agli imperative della grandezza, creando imparag 47. For opposite viewpoint, Vannelli, Econom?a dell'architettura in "La dei 431. giabile ambiente monumentale pieno di ricordi ammonitori, in cui la Roma fascista, 329; and idem, spina Borghi dopo l'Unit?," FRAMING ST. PETER'S: URBAN PLANNING IN ROME FASCIST 775

48. See Giulio Tardini, Basilica Vaticana e Borghi: Dati storici (Rome: particolari gustosissimi, e di altri malamente costretti in spazi non pro Tiberino, 1936), 31; Ceccarius, "La sistemazione di Piazza San Pietro, porzionati. La allarg? eccessivamente, al di l? della s?goma dell'edificio non Prossima 'messa in scena' di imponenti progetti," L'Illustrazione Italiana per sostenere i due campanili, ai quali si dovette poi ostante i ri 64 (1937): 1267; and Api, "La sistemazione della zona dal Ponte S. An petuti tentativi rinunciare. Mantenne la povert? del cornicione mich e gelo alla Piazza S. Pietro," L'Illustrazione Vaticana 8 (1937): 879. elangiolesco, l?gico nei fianchi nelle curve, sotto il dominio della Cupola, insufficiente qui nella stesa e piatta fronte principale. La privo 49. Api, "La sistemazione della zona dal Ponte S. Angelo," 879-81. di un forte accento centrale, si che non ti verrebbe fatto, se facessi as 50. Basilica Vaticana e 78: "nessuno ha mai consta Tardini, Borghi, potuto trazione dai simboli e dalle statue, di considerarla la facciata di una tare de visu faccia la vista simultanea e totale della fac quale impressione Chiesa, ma piuttosto quella di un fastoso e monumentale palazzo pub ciata e della Cupola" (emphasis in the original). blico." 51. Piacentini and Memoria studi, 11: da Piazza Pia Spaccarelli, sugli "Oggi 71. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "Dal Ponte Elio a S. Pietro," 8: "avrebbe si vede la Mole in tutta la sua interezza, in tutta l'armonia divina che dovuto servir? a dare tutt'altro inquadramento alia composizione." lega?e spiega?la facciata, la cupola grande e le due minori." 72. Ceccarius, "La sistemazione di Piazza San Pietro," 1267: "notevoli van 52. Piacentini and "La sistemazione dei 21-22: "cosi Spaccarelli, Borghi," taggi perch? essa inquadrer? il Tempio e lo presentera nella sua parte da far risultare il tutto?sotto i vari della t?cnica urban?stica? aspetti essenziale, eliminando la vista delle parti corrispondenti alla base delle con criterio ed unitario metiere in evi concepito org?nico per meglio torri campanarie che, unite alla facciata, fanno apparire questa eccessi denza il miracolo michelangiolesco." vamente allungata." 53. See D. Medina The Renaissance Lasansky, Perfected: Architecture, Spectacle, 73. Schiavo, "Via della Conciliazione," 502-4. See also idem, "Piazza San and Tourism in Fascist Park: Penn State Press, Italy (University University Pietro nel pensiero e nell'opera del Bernini," Emporium 91, no. 546 2004). (1940): 291-300. Evidently, the framing device was also well known to Italian scholars of architecture at the time. See Roberto 54. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione del Borghi," 21: "Le due Baroque Pane, Bernini architetto Neri 34-35. monumentalit?, quella dello spazio e quella del Monumento in parte si (Venice: Pozza, 1953), elidono." 74. See principally Piacentini, "Urban?stica nella Roma Mussoliniana," 21 and Antonio Roma di Mussolini 55. See Lazz., "Voci lontane nel dibattito presente," L'Osservatore Romano 53; Mu?oz, (Milan: Tr?ves, 1935). 74, no. 280 2, 5, in Neri, "II (December 1934): quoted collegamento," 75. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione dei Borghi," 22. See also 437. Ceccarius, La "Spina" dei Borghi, 26. A preliminary model of the Via a della Conciliazione was on in November 1937. See "Le 56. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 13: "tale soluzione im display Vienna, realizzazioni della Roma Mussoliniana alia Mostra buto?con la sua prospettiva a rovescio?avrebbe annulato ogni rap grandiose dell'Urban?stica Italiana a 13 More porte tra la Via e la facciata di S. Pietro, abolendo otticamente ogni Vienna," Capitolium (1937): 615-17. d?finitive models were sent to the Milan di Architettura in distanza, e awicinando incomprensibilmente il Tempio." Esposizione 1940 and, in 1944, were in storage. Piacentini and 57. Ceccarius, "La sistemazione di Piazza San Pietro," 1267. See also Pia deposited municipal Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 16. centini and Spaccarelli's report of October 8, 1937, to Mussolini, in 76. "Studio di nella demolizione dei ACS, Rome, Segreteria Particolare del Duce, Carteggio ordinario, fase. Luigi Respighi, prospettiva Borghi," L'UrbeS 34-37. 7583, cited in Vannelli, Econom?a dell'architettura in Roma fascista, 350 n. (1938): 48. 77. Ceccarius, "La sistemazione di Piazza San Pietro," 1266; idem, La dei and ?talo Insolera and 58. "Contratto tra il Governatorato di Roma e la Santa Sede relativo a per "Spina" Borghi, 28-29; Alessandra Maria Roma tra le due Cronache da una citt? che cambia Pa muta di immobili in Via della Conciliazione," in Archivio Storico Capi Sette, guerre: (Rome: 123. tolino, Rome, Governatorato di Roma, Servizio Contratti, June 15, lombi, 2003), 1938, B. See Patti Convenzioni e accordi successivi il allegato Lateranensi, fra 78. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione dei Borghi," 22. See also Vaticano e Vitalia al 31 dicembre ed. Mario Belardo fino 1945, (Vatican Ceccarius, La "Spina" dei Borghi, 26-27. City: Poliglotta, 1972), 235-38. See also Vannelli, Econom?a dell'archi 79. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "Dal Ponte Elio a S. Pietro," 25-26. tettura in Roma fascista, 341. 80. Ceccarius, "La sistemazione di Piazza San Pietro," 1267: "in tal caso 59. Piacentini, "Problemi urbanistici di Roma," 322. pi? 'mobile' che 'nobile.'" 60. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 9: "II superbo porticato 81. Piacentini reported, after the fall of the regime, simply that the model del Bernini, che si scopre soltanto arrivando alia Piazza, esalta e rin was not considered by the authorities and was destroyed on their or forza la visione della facciata, ma non entra mai in quadro con la cu ders ("per ordine superiore") before the test was to take place. Piacen pola. Quale m?gico effetto si sarebbe potuto ottenere se il Bernini (fac tini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 15. None of the available pe ciamo un'ipotesi assurda) avesse potuto attaccare la sua meravigliosa riod photographs shows a finished model. cornice alla mole michelangiolesca, fondendo in un ?nico scenario e 82. Mariano cited in Basilica Vaticana e 68 n. and portico e facciata e cupola!" (emphasis in the original). Borgatti, Tardini, Borghi, 130; Berra and Giovanni Battista Rosso, "La sistemazione dei e il 61. Ibid., 7. Luigi Borghi Cavali?re ," Arte Cristiana 26, no. 3 (1938): 78 n. 1. e e 62. Tardini, Basilica Vaticana Borghi, 70: "il completo perfetto allaccia See also Wittkower, "II terzo braccio del Bernini," 129-34, translated in mento tra Roma e il tra la d'Italia e la Citt? Vaticano, Capitale [Vati Studies in the Italian Baroque, 60; and Pane, Bernini architetto, 35. cana] nuovissima donde si esercita un'autorit? spirituale senza limiti di 83. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, "La sistemazione dei Borghi," 21; Ceccarius, tempo e coartazioni di spazio." La "Spina" dei Borghi, 30; Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 63. Piacentini and "La sistemazione dei 26 n. 1: Spaccarelli, Borghi," "sepa 17-18, pi. xii; and Neri, "II collegamento," 441, fig. 8. raziorie . . . non chiusura." 84. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 23: "chiaro elemento di 64. 21: Piacentini and Memoria 14: e . . . Ibid., "propilei"; Spaccarelli, sugli studi, continuit? di unit? lungo la via elementi uguali e ritmati"; "la fun or o See also La "quasi quinte, prosceni, preludi." Ceccarius, "Spina" zione di quinte prospettiche. ..." dei Borghi, 30; and Gian Luigi Lerza, "Edifici piacentiniani in piazza Pi? 85. Piacentini stated that "aligned stelae [steli allineati]" were first con XII," in Spagensi, L'architettura della basilica di San Pietro, 445-52. ceived in his 1936 project, although they did not appear in the 1936 65. Piacentini and "Dal Ponte Elio a S. 13. Spaccarelli, Pietro," models. Marcello Piacentini, "Una sistemazione senza pace: Gli obe lischi della Conciliazione fonte inesauribile di II 66. Ibid., 10: "punto di vista perfetto per il godimento totale dei due polemiche," Tempo no. 115 3. Piacentini mentioned the obe bracci colonnati, della facciata e della cupola." (Rome) 7, (April 25, 1950): lisks in a May 1937 interview; Antonio Mu?oz, "Marcello Piacentini 67. Bottai, Il rinnovamento di Roma, 15: "verra ad integrare il disegno di parla di Roma e di architettura," L'Urbe 2, no. 5 (1937): 19-28, cited in Michelangelo e del Bernini; urban?stico fra i ardui, irri problema piu Antonio Cederna, Brandelli d'Italia: Come il (Rome: soluto da secoli." distruggere belpaese Newton Compton, 1991), 286, although the obelisks still did not ap 68. Basilica Vaticana e "E la facciata? Sembra Tardini, Borghi, 82: meglio pear in the published October 1937 plans. To the contrary, see Mario in modo tutelati in i velarla, che, pieno due capolavori, rimangono Praz's defense of the artist Andrea Beloborodoff s claim of having had come neu'ombra i difetti di un ma non dell'opera degno, cos? grande the idea first in 1939. Praz, "Gli obelischi della Conciliazione," II Tempo no. architetto." (Rome) 7, 115 (April 25, 1950): 3; and Beloborodoff, "Ancora gli no. 69. See n. 42 above. obelischi," II Tempo (Rome) 7, 118 (April 28, 1950): 3. 86. "Stele di Axum," 13 (1937): 604: "s?mbolo del nuovo 70. Piacentini and Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 9: "Creo [Maderno] in Capitolium Impero It?lico." tal modo una facciata di linee austero e solennissime, indubbiamente ma e non viva, disordinata chiassosa, leggibile (pochi architetti sapreb 87. See Gustavo Brig?n ti Colonna, "Roma di notte," Capitolium 10 (1934): bero disegnarla a memoria), con una serie di profili ingiustificati e 583-92; and "Via della Conciliazione e S. Pietro illuminati dai fanali tra e quasi controsenso, zeppa di motivi diff?rend loro, ricca di alcuni obelisco da fari," IIMessaggero 72, no. 103 (April 13, 1950): 3. 4 776 ART BULLETIN VOLUME LXXXVIII NUMBER

88. See Carlo Cresti, Architetture efascismo (Florence: Vallechi, 1986), 315; 91. Giovannoni, "T Borghi' e la 'Spina,'" 153-54. "II volto effimero della citt? nell'et? e Marco Rinaldi, dell'Impero 92. Marcello Piacentini, "Vecchio e nuovo in via della Conciliazione," II dell'autoarchia," in La a Roma: Citt? e arredo urbano, 1870-1945, capitale Tempo (Rome) 7, no. 85 (March 26, 1950): 3. See also Piacentini and ed. Anna Cambedda and Luisa Cardilli (Rome: Carte 1991), Segrete, Spaccarelli, Memoria sugli studi, 23. 118-29; Marcello, "Rationalism versus Romanit?," 250-53; and idem, 93. See Antonio Fornari, "II 'Ventennio' continua: La via della Conciliazi "Fascism and the Ephemeral City: Hitler's Visit to Rome," in The one ossia da Michelangelo a Piacentini," La Voce Repubblicana 30, no. 78 Planned City, ed. Attilio Petruccioli et al. (Bari: Corcelli, 2003), 1226-30. (April 1, 1950): 3; Tommaso Chiaretti, "Gli obelischi dei 'piacentini' 89. See Di?o Alfieri and La mostra della Rivoluzione Fas Luigi Freddi, eds., sarebbero piaciuti a Starace," L'Unit? 27, no. 72 (March 25, 1950): 3; cista Partito Nazionale and Diane (Rome: Fascista, 1932); Ghirardo, and "Dalla cupola di Michelangelo agli obelischi di Rebecchini," Exhibitions and the Politics of Culture in Fascist "Architects, Italy," Avanti! (Rome) 54, no. 73 (March 26, 1950): 2. A variety of nicknames Architectural Education 45 67-75. "Rational Journal of (1992): Marcello, appeared, among them "dentures in need of orthodontia," Antonio ism versus has demonstrated that Romanit?," 250-53, propagandistic Cederna, "Via degli obelischi," IIMondo 2, no. 14 (April 8, 1950): 9, were controlled officials who ephemera carefully by party rarely (if reprinted in Cederna, Brandelli d'ltalia: Come distruggere il belpaese turned to established or esteemed For ever) independent designers. (Rome: Newton Compton, 1991), 284-85; and "supposte" (supposito example, I have yet to find any direct involvement of Piacentini in Fas ries), Ludovico Mozza, "Obelischi a Roma torri a Firenze," Omnibus cist party ephemera design. (Milan), no. 8 (May 21, 1951). 90. Ceccarius, La "Spina" dei Borghi, 25: "impartir? gli ordini perch? 94. The obelisks were erected between March and April 1950 under the l'accesso al maggior tempio della Cristianit? fosse degno dell'Urbe city administration of Christian-Democrat Mayor Salvatore Rebecchini. rinata a nuovi destini imperiali." See Cederna, "Via degli obelischi," 285-87.