Bramante Staircase

Two staircases in the Vatican Museums, built in 1505 and 1932

Bramante Staircase

The "Momo", modern evolution of 'Bramante' spiral stairs of 1932.

Click on the map for a fullscreen view

Location| Vatican Museums
Coordinates| 41°54′23″N 12°27′16″E﻿ / ﻿41.9064°N 12.4544°E﻿ / 41.9064; 12.4544

Bramante Staircase is the name given to two staircases in the Vatican Museums in the Vatican City State: the original stair, built in 1505, and a modern equivalent from 1932.

## The original staircase

[edit]

The original Bramante staircase, built in 1505

The original Bramante staircase, in the Pio-Clementine Museum, was built in 1505 to a double helix design by Donato Bramante. It connects the Belvedere palace of Pope Innocent VIII to the outside and stands in a square tower of that building.[1]

The Bramante Staircase features granite Doric columns and a herringbone paving pattern, and was designed to allow people and pack animals to ascend and descend without interruption.[1] The stair is cited as the inspiration for Antonio da Sangallo the Younger's design for the double helix passageway at the well of San Patrizio in Orvieto, to solve a similar logistical problem. The staircase was built to allow Pope Julius II to enter his private residence while still in his carriage, since walking up the several flights in heavy papal vestments would have been onerous.[citation needed]

It is not generally open to the public, though specialist tours do visit.[1]

## The modern staircase

[edit]

The modern 'Bramante' spiral stairs of the Vatican Museums, designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932

The modern double helix staircase, also in the Pio-Clementine Museum, and commonly referred to as the "Bramante Staircase", was designed by Giuseppe Momo, sculpted by Antonio Maraini and realized by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry in 1932 and was inspired by the original Bramante Staircase. This staircase, like the original, is a double helix, having two staircases allowing people to ascend without meeting people descending; as with the original, the main purpose of this design is to allow uninterrupted traffic in each direction. It encircles the outer wall of a stairwell approximately fifteen meters wide and with a clear space at the centre. The balustrade around the ramp is of ornately worked metal. A canopy located above provides the necessary light to illuminate the stairs. The staircase is located at the end of the museum visit and all visitors leave by this route.[2]

Several architecture professors have speculated that Momo’s staircase (particularly the skylight and atrium, and the helical nature of the ramp and the technical aspects of its construction) was the inspiration for Frank Lloyd Wright’s design for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.[3][4][5]

## See also

[edit]

* Index of Vatican City–related articles

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Bramante Staircase at insightvacations.com Retrieved 23 August 2015
2. ^ Bramante staircase at photovoyage.org (in French)
3. ^ Tanzj, Daniela; Bentivegna, Andrea (July 23, 2015). "The Vatican Museums and the Guggenheim: Two Ingenious Spirals of Art". La Voce di New York.
4. ^ Hersey, George L. (1993). High Renaissance art in St. Peter's and the Vatican: an interpretative guide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780226327822.
5. ^ Mindel, Lee F. (February 28, 2013). "Compares the Oculi at the Vatican and the Guggenheim Museum". Architectural Digest.

* v
* t
* e

Holy See

* Apostolic episcopal see of Pope Leo XIV as bishop of the Diocese of Rome
* Sovereignty and government of Vatican City
* Sovereign judicial entity under international law

History|

* Apostolic see
* Primacy of Peter
* History of papal primacy
* Patrimony of Saint Peter
* Old St. Peter's Basilica
* Lateran Palace
* Museum
* Duchy of Rome
* Donation of Sutri
* Donation of Pepin
* Avignon Papacy
* Papal States
* Temporal power
* Investiture Controversy
* Age of Revolution
* "Prisoner in the Vatican"
* Savoyard era
* Vatican City
* Lateran Treaty
* World War II
* Warsaw Pact

Sovereign
judicial entity
under
international
law
(Legal status)|

| Officials|

* Pope Leo XIV
* Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin
* Cardinals
* List
* Advisers

|

Governance|

* Secretariat of State
* College of Cardinals
* Papal conclave

Government|

* Roman Curia
* Apostolic Camera
* Commissions
* For Vatican City State
* Councils
* Congregations
* Dicasteries

Foreign affairs
(Multilateral policy)|

* Section for Relations with States
* To the Holy See
* Of the Holy See
* Heads
* Italy
* United Nations
* Permanent Observer
* in Geneva
* European Union
* Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe
* Apostolic nunciature
* Nuncio
* Treaties
* Concordats

Diocese
of Rome
with universal
full communion
(Papal primacy)|

| Synods|

* Ordinary general assemblies
* Extraordinary general assemblies
* Special assemblies

|

Ecclesiastical
province of Rome
(Vicariate: Rome,
Vatican City)|

| Suburbicarian sees|

* Ostia
* Velletri-Segni
* Porto-Santa Rufina
* Frascati
* Palestrina
* Albano
* Sabina-Poggio Mirteto

|

Territorial abbeys|

* Montecassino
* Subiaco

Suffragan dioceses|

* Gaeta
* Anagni-Alatri
* Civita Castellana
* Civitavecchia-Tarquinia
* Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino
* Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno
* Rieti
* Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo
* Tivoli
* Viterbo

Properties
including
extra-
territoriality|

| Inside
Rome|

Major basilicas|

* St. Peter's Basilica
* Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran
* Basilica of Saint Mary Major
* Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

|

* Lateran Palace
* Lateran University
* Scala Sancta
* Sancta Sanctorum
* Adjoining buildings
* Palace of Saint Callixtus
* Gianicolo Hill area
* Pontifical Urban University
* Pontifical North American College
* Bambino Gesù Hospital
* Palazzo della Cancelleria
* Palace of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
* Palace of the Holy Office
* Palace of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
* Palazzo Pio
* Palace of the Vicariate
* Pontifical Minor Roman Seminary
* Collegio Teutonico
* Teutonic Cemetery
* Benedictine monastery
* Pontifical Oratory of San Paolo
* Beda College
* Paul VI Audience Hall
* St. Peter's Square

Non-
extraterritorial|

* Palace of the Holy Apostles
* Palace of San Carlo ai Catinari
* Collegio Bellarmino
* Archaeological Institute
* Pontifical Oriental Institute
* Pontifical Lombard Seminary
* Russian College
* Two Palaces of Sant'Apollinare
* House of Retreat for the Clergy of Saints John and Paul
* Nympheum of Nero

|

Outside
Rome|

* Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo
* Papal farm
* Gardens of the Villa Cybo
* Villa Barberini
* Adjacent gardens
* Pontifical College Josephinum
* Summer estate of Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide
* Vatican Radio antennae area of Santa Maria di Galeria

| Non-
extraterritorial|

* Basilica of the Holy House
* Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
* Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua

|

See also|

* Acta Apostolicae Sedis
* Awards
* Papal household
* Peter's Pence
* Roman Rota
* Apostolic Penitentiary
* Apostolic Signatura
* Swiss Guard
* Vatican.va

* Vatican City portal
* Catholicism portal

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template