Francesco De Sanctis (architect)

Spanish steps with Trinità dei Monti around 1900

Francesco De Sanctis (born November 19, 1679 in Rome , † March 26, 1731 there , according to other sources not until 1740 ) was an Italian architect of the Baroque era .

His most famous building is the Spanish Steps in Rome, built between 1723 and 1726 , which lead up from the Piazza di Spagna to the French national church Santa Trinità dei Monti on the Pincio hill . De Sanctis had in 1721 with his staircase design with one of Pope Clement XI. competition against Alessandro Specchi . After completion, the plant was in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII. inaugurated. The staircase, made up of concave and convex steps, steps and terraces, inhibited and accelerated again by striking curves, is one of the most famous open staircases in the world. It begins with a central staircase and two parallel side runs. After a third of the incline, all three meet on a first terrace, only to separate again and to flow around the second terrace wall. This is followed by a narrowing central staircase, which divides again in front of the last terrace wall and finally leads to the Trinità dei Monti church. With this tripartite division of the staircase, De Sanctis was referring to the church on the mountain, consecrated to the Holy Trinity .

His second well-known work is the elegant concave main facade of the Roman church Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini , built from 1722 to 1723 , for which he was inspired by the facade of the church of San Marcello al Corso by Carlo Fontana . For his part, Francesco De Sanctis influenced the work of the Sicilian architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini .

Web links

• Francesco De Sanctis. In: arch INFORM .
• CV on treccani.it (Italian)