Author Description

Bernini's Scala Regia combines art and architecture, sculpture and decoration in an expressive ensemble that is one of the masterpieces of the Baroque. Originally an undistinguished staircase, it was transformed by Bernini to serve as the main entrance to the Vatican Palace as well as the principal connection between the palace and St. Peter's basilica. This book is the first complete account of the Scala Regia in the context of the long building history of the Vatican Palace, St. Peter's and its piazza, and other works by Bernini. It reveals Bernini's working procedure as an architect, sculptor, and planner and indicates how he met structural challenges with solutions that spoke to practical and ideological concerns of the day.