A brief look into the history | Piazza del Campidoglio
Built by the visualization and dreams of architects changing over centuries, Piazza Del Campidoglio has witnessed tremendous changes over time. The Caption hill lies between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius on the highest of the seven hills in Rome. As historians and the local, as well as global scripts, define it, Capitoline Hill is part of Rome’s origin and has been a part of the city holding great importance- not only economically and culturally but structurally too. As early as the 8th century, The Piazza del Campidoglio was held as the seat of the Senate, the government base for ancient Rome, and also the site for numerous religious shrines. Being used for the administration of justice and to host the Sabines, the Piazza has always been of immense importance for the city of growing limits.
The epicenter of the city became prominently to be known as the religious hub when several important temples of Vulcan, The Lord- Jupiter, and the Virtus were constructed in the vicinity. However, till the period of the Middle Ages, the religious character of the city was losing value in becoming the new city center of Rome. This somehow led to the destruction of old buildings between the eighth and twelfth centuries and thus to the transfer of the headquarters of the prefect of the city from the Holiforium Forum to this place. Thus ultimately Capitoline Hill became the government center of the medieval city.
The Beginning of Change
After a revolt in 1144, as the senator took to living on the hilltop residence which was facing the back of the Roman Forum, he initiated the change in the orientation of this space. The execution of his ideas in many stages ultimately led Miguel Ángel, also later known to be the former Architect of the Piazza, to make this his urban-scale architectural project. Thus, a small square right opposite the senator’s Palace was established such that it can be used for not only institutional events but even large crowd-handling events or state proceedings.
After a couple of centuries, the radical changes due to the transfer of power from one ruler to another the so-called progress had left the plaza in shameful status due to which in 1537, Pope Paul III (1534-1549) commissioned Michelangelo to remodel the square. Back in that time, in those days, the square was popularly called Colle Caprino, goats hill, as it was used as a field to graze goats due to the openness of the space.
The view in figure 3 which is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below depicts what this plaza comprised of.
- Steps leading to S. Maria in Aracoeli.
- Palazzo Nuovo.
- Palazzo Senatorio.
- Palazzo dei Conservatori.
- Ramp towards (the center of) Rome.
- Accesses from Campo Vaccino.
- Palazzo Caffarelli;
- Palazzetto Altemps
- Rupe Tarpea.
Michelangelo’s Contribution
After terrible failures by one designer to the other, the project finally came into the hands of Michelangelo in 1537. He aimed at displaying the change in power, which was happening during the time, significantly in the architecture he was ordered to make. Thus it included making the Palaza face towards St Peter’s Basilica, the political center of Rome, rather than the Roman Forum, where the plaza was formerly directed.
Under the proposal, the construction of another palace, Palazzo Nuovo was approved, making it face Palazzo del Conservatori. The changes were kept not only restricted to the new Palace but also carried forward to the Palazzo Senatorio. This was to be done by having a new façade on the already existing one. The Palazzo Senatorio’s front would also be redesigned so that all the buildings and the square would work harmoniously.
This was a symbolic gesture of giving back to the past of the city. For all of this to effectively take place, Michelangelo had to take various design requirements into account, which included giving a place for the Pope to place a statue of Marcus Aurelius in the square, as well as put order in an irregular space flanked by two medieval buildings in pretty bad shape, which compounded a sharp angle.
Following the restoration phase, the Senator Palace was restored by incorporating a new double staircase and moving the bell to the central axis of the building.
Conservator’s Palace was also restored in medieval times, removing all traces of all the earlier restoration works done and putting it by the Senator’s Palace. In addition, on the north side, Michelangelo projected the New Palace, closing the perspective of Santa Maria in Aracoeli at the same angle as the two existing buildings thus creating a symmetrical trapezoidal space between the three buildings.
On the west end of the assembly, he included a balustrade, making the square limited to the edge looking at the modern city. To further accentuate the central axis of the square and its new geometry of it, the Architect also added a ramp ladder, from the foot of the hill leading to the square on top of it.
Project objectives of Michelangelo according to Thomas Ashby: (Unknown, wikiarquitectura, n.d.)
- Simplifying the composition of Palace Senator, eliminating medieval structures like the side towers, and finally giving a new look to the facade.
- Removing the existing ruins from the space as it was unsuitable for residential buildings and shops.
- Reconstructing the Palace of the Conservatives, stripping the existing medieval appearance, and giving it a new facade with the new image of the Palace of the Senator.
- Constructing a new building to close the space and balance the axis marked by the central tower of the Palace of the Senator and the statue of Marcus Aurelius.
- Building a new staircase to the square which would also be aligned with the central axis
- Employing the statue of Marcus Aurelius as the focus of the new composition of the square.
Structure and Materials | Piazza del Campidoglio
The structure of the New Palace is load-bearing walls. The new facade attached to the old one of the Palace of conservatives consists of pilasters and columns, which are made in the likeness of the facade of the New Palace structure. The pavement of the square consists of paving stones and pieces of travertine. The contrast of colors is used for visual segregation and harmony.
The execution of the plans took so long that Michelangelo didn’t live to see his work completed. Nevertheless, his designs were followed meticulously and finished several centuries later. (Unknown, n.d.). The city of warriors and great pride will always be remembered for its historically impressive architecture, its tales, and the tales of how it has gone under immense changes. What long efforts of rules architects and designers have left us with is mesmerizing architecture and a heap of knowledge to learn from. Thus even after such a long time, the Piazza Del Campidoglio continues to be one of the most visited tourist sites in Rome.
References
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