#PalazzoBraschi hashtag - Bluesky

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social

1 month ago

$SPOLIA IN THE GRAND STAIRCASE, 1791. PALAZZO BRASCHI After almost a century of popes refraining from nepotism, Pius VI Braschi threw the rules-based order into the trash so he could enrich his nephew, Luigi Onesti Braschi. To construct the scalone d'onore or grand staircase in the new palazzo Braschi, Pius stripped 12 columns in rose granite from the 1475-1479 cloister of the Friars in the Ospedale di S. Spirito and more from the nuns' cloister, replacing them with travertine substitutes. They originated in a large ancient portico called the Hecatostylon, adjacent to the theatre of Pompey. At the same time, Pius cut veneers of rose granite from the huge memorial column of Antoninus Pius to make the pilasters at right. It had been extracted from the hill of Montecitorio in 1705, badly damaging it in the process, and which was later irreparably fractured in a fire in 1759. This column was used like an organ donor to repair the obelisks at Montecitorio and atop the Spanish Steps.$

SPOLIA IN THE GRAND STAIRCASE, 1791. PALAZZO BRASCHI After almost a century of popes refraining from nepotism, Pius VI Braschi threw the rules-based order into the trash so he could enrich his nephew, Luigi Onesti Braschi. To construct the scalone d'onore or grand staircase in the new palazzo Braschi, Pius stripped 12 columns in rose granite from the 1475-1479 cloister of the Friars in the Ospedale di S. Spirito and more from the nuns' cloister, replacing them with travertine substitutes. They originated in a large ancient portico called the Hecatostylon, adjacent to the theatre of Pompey. At the same time, Pius cut veneers of rose granite from the huge memorial column of Antoninus Pius to make the pilasters at right. It had been extracted from the hill of Montecitorio in 1705, badly damaging it in the process, and which was later irreparably fractured in a fire in 1759. This column was used like an organ donor to repair the obelisks at Montecitorio and atop the Spanish Steps.

A plethora of #spolia decorates the grand staircase of #palazzoBraschi in #Rome, but we will confine ourselves to the rose granite #pilasters around the walls, sliced out of the #AntonineColumn in 1791, and the rose granite columns at right, taken from the Ospedale di S. Spirito. #AncientBluesky 🏺

15 4 1 0

Anthony Majanlahti

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social

3 months ago

RELIEF, 250-275 CE, ON C18 STATUE BASE. MUSEO DI ROMA This relief was gently sawn off what I can only presume was a fragmentary sarcophagus of the C3. It shows two standing cows, their heads together at centre, behind two others, one on the left lying down on the ground with its hoofs demurely folded, one on the right settling down with its front legs folded but rear legs still upright. They took are facing each other and in fact they all look like they're making unfavourable observations about a fifth cow not in the scene. Three trees in the background complete the scene. The relief is attached to a newer marble back, to decorate the base of a statue of an Antonine emperor on the grand staircase of palazzo Braschi. This transfer of reliefs can be found on all the statue bases in this staircase, and also elsewhere, on the statue bases in the Hall of Mirrors in palazzo Colonna, for instance.

#SpoliaSunday takes us to #palazzoBraschi to recognise a small but persistent #spolia genre, the ancient relief sheared off a #sarcophagus fragment to adorn a statue base in the C18. The scene here is a bucolic one, of four cows, apparently enjoying a good gossip. 250-275 CE. #AncientBluesky 🏺

23 5 0 0