Date
1926-1934
Object Type
Photograph
Subject
View of the marble staircase during construction work at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara.
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara
About The Work
The image documents the construction phases of the Marble Staircase of the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, erected between 1924 and 1934 under the direction of Adolfo Angeli, who assumed office on 2 February 1924. The restoration campaign promoted by Angeli sought to address the progressive deterioration of the building and to transform it into a space better suited to the Academy’s pedagogical needs and institutional role. The intervention entailed, first and foremost, the demolition of the seventeenth-century structure, with the aim of restoring the palace to a configuration deemed more consistent with its original architectural lines. Among the director’s priorities were the restoration of the so-called “medieval tower” and the construction of a new architectural body characterized by “fifteenth-century motifs.” This addition was intended to reconnect the fortress and the Prince’s Palace, which had been separated following the demolition of the intermediate building. Within this newly created interior space, a monumental double staircase was installed. Rising from the ground floor, it connected the various levels of the complex and created a transitional space on the piano nobile at the junction of the two architectural structures. Archival documentation indicates that by 1929 the staircase had already attained its definitive form, distinguished by its characteristic pincer configuration. At that stage, the marble-clad columns, balustrades, and handrails were in place, and the entire structure had been fully faced in marble. In accordance with the symbolic program articulated by Angeli, the staircase was dedicated to “Victory,” a concept closely aligned with one of the central values promoted by Fascist ideology during the period. See Laghi Anna Vittoria, L’Accademia di Belle Arti e il suo patrimonio artistico: ipotesi di un percorso, in L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara e il suo patrimonio, exhibition catalogue (Carrara, Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, 27 June – 7 September 2014), ed. by Lucilla Meloni, Anna Vittoria Laghi, Milano, Postmedia Books, 2015, pp. 25-59, ref. pp. 38-41.
Title
View of the marble staircase in the courtyard, Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara.
Subject
View of the marble staircase during construction work at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara.
Creator
Unidentified photographer
Date
1926-1934
Object Type
Photograph
Technique / Support
Gelatin silver print
Original Function
Documentation
Dimensions
mm 166x120
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara
Unique identifier
ICCD_MIDF_0980674398671