Have you noticed howsome stairs make you feel as though you’re hobbling along in tight, heavyboots, while others make you feel like you’re floating in a pair of softleather slippers? If you live in one of the narrow houses that make up the bulkof the buildings in Florence’s historic centre, the first comparison will soundfamiliar. These old working-class houses are usually only two bays wide, with ashop at ground level and a small door next to it that gives access to a narrowand steeply rising stair.
For the longesttime, stairs were considered an inconvenient necessity in architecture. Theytook up valuable living space, and, whenever possible, they were relegated tothe exterior of houses. There are surviving examples of medieval houses withexternal stairs in Trastevere in Rome and in some small towns in central Italy, such as Civita di Bagnoreggio, near Viterbo.
The stairs inmedieval monumental architecture were just as narrow and awkward to climb asthose on the interior of old houses. You encounter them in the 13th centuryBargello when you go to the uppermost floors; the exterior stair in thecourtyard, which leads to the pianonobile, is steep but atypically widefor the period. The 14th century Palazzo Davanzati, a rather grand residencefor its time, still has an old stair clinging to the wall of the courtyard. Thefirst flights are in stone, after which the steps are of wood to lighten the load.
At some point in thesecond half of the 15th century, the form of interior stairs started to undergoa significant transformation. Palazzo Medici, begun in the 1440s, still had anarrow, steep main stair (the present one dates from the 17th century), onlyabout 130 centimetres wide, the steps with treads just 38 centimetres deep andrising 18 centimetres. Cosimo de’Medici, who built Palazzo Medici, alsomodernized the Badia Fiesolana, beginning in 1456. Here, in the stair that runsbetween the church and refectory, we have a very early hint of what would, overthe next two centuries, develop into the ceremonial staircase of Baroquearchitecture, the kind you find in Palazzo Pitti. The Badia Fiesolana stair ismore than twice as wide as the original stair of Palazzo Medici, and althoughits treads are still shallow, the risers are down from 18 to 16 centimetres.The difference in the figures may seem insignificant, but it is perceptible asyou ascend or descend.
The development instair design was taken even further about 10 years later, in the ducal palaceat Urbino. The main stair between the courtyard and the piano nobile is so wideand rises so gently that it could be (and often was) climbed by horses. It isover three metres wide, with treads 50 centimetres deep and rising a mere 12centimetres. These proportions were unrivalled in private architecture untilthe 1540s, when Antonio da Sangallo designed the Palazzo Farnese in Rome andbuilt a stair that was even wider.
By the time of thehigh Renaissance, when one ‘VIP’ paid an official visit to another, certainrules of ceremony were observed. The more important the visitor was, thefurther he would be allowed to penetrate into the private apartments of thehost, and the earlier along the way would he be met by his host. The stairplayed an important role in this ceremony. If the visitor happened to be extremelymagnificent, the host (unless he happened to be even more magnificent) mightmeet him at the bottom of the main stair, so that they could ascend together.Otherwise, the host would wait for him at the top of the stair. In eitherinstance, it was clearly undesirable for there to be a lot of huffing andpuffing and jostling while one or both were climbing up.
Sometimes, though, this couldn’t be avoided. In 1538,Guidobaldo della Rovere, son of the Duke of Urbino, paid an official visit tothe Doge of Venice. The letter in which he describes the event includes anamusing account of what can happen when the stair is too steep. In order toreach the room where the Doge was waiting for him, Guidobaldo had to climb up avery long stair in the medieval ducal palace, which left him breathless, for hewas accustomed to the stairs in his family’s palace in Urbino. The Doge had nochoice but to wait until Guidobaldo had sat down for a few minutes to recoverhis breath.
From the Renaissance on, architects designed stairskeeping ceremonial requirements in mind as far as possible. But there were alsoother considerations that could influence the design. Leonardo da Vinciproduced some fascinating drawings for double-ramp stairs, which were just thething for a tyrant, who would often feel the need to make a secret escape. OnLeonardo’s double- ramp stair, two people could run up and downcontemporaneously without ever encountering one another. This kind of stair islikely to have interested a lot of Renaissance VIPs.
