Perspective drawing of the Capitoline
Hill after Michelangelo’s
plan for its rennovation. c.
1569.
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Perspective drawing of the Capitoline
Hill after Michelangelo’s
plan for its rennovation. c.
1569. |
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Despite his opposition to placing the
Marcus Aurelius at the center of the Piazza del Campidoglio,
Michelangelo’s design for the area is one of the masterpieces of urban
planning.
Michelangelo placed the equestrian
sculpture at the center of a slightly mounded pavement, that he
embellished with a 12-pointed star. The 12 |
points of the star refer to the signs
of the zodiac, and the mounding pavement atop which the anicent emperor
stands is a reminder of the long-held notion that Rome is the caput mundi, or head of the world.
Michelangelo’s design for the
Campidoglio was constrained by the presence of two late medieval buidlings
on the site. There wasn’t sufficient funding |
to demolish either the Palazzo dei
Senatori at the center of the area, or the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the
right. In answer to these bulidings, Michelangelo constructed a
third building on left side, the Palazzo Nuovo.
Essentially, the arrangement of these
buildings created an outdoor room with the Marcus
Aurelius at its center.
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