040.

Piazza di Spagna

While suggesting the convex angle of the piazza on the left, Vasi straightens out the equally convex angle on the right side so as to give a better view of the Palazzo di Spagna (3). This graphic adjustment had the effect of making the piazza look considerably wider than it actually is, and of distancing the Barcaccia Fountain (4) from the opening of Via Condotti, visible at the extreme right edge of the print. Nolli shows the fountain to be about halfway between the steps and Via Condotti. The authorship of the Barcaccia fountain (named for its boat shape) has been contested between Gianlorenzo Bernini and his less famous father, Pietro. However the dating is not in doubt because it is decorated with the coat of arms and personal sun symbol of Urban VIII (1623-44), and is known to have been built in the early part of his reign. The early Baroque Palazzo Monaldeschi was bought by Philip IV of Spain in 1647 to become Palazzo di Spagna and the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, which it remains to this day (the Spanish embassy to Italy is in Palazzo Borghese). The palazzo gave its name to the piazza, which in turn became the popular name for the "Spanish" steps (paid for by the French!), whose official name is the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti (1) as Vasi indicates. Facing us at the end of the piazza is the short facade by Bernini (1642) of the Collegio della Propaganda Fide (2). Borromini built much of the rest of the building after 1646, but had not completed it by the time of his death in 1667. Protruding above the Collegio are Borromini's bell tower and dome of S. Andrea delle Fratte (5). To the right of that dome appears the tower of the Quirinal palace, Plate 61.