" foreshadowed the great staircases of the Late Baroque palaces. The Palazzo Barberini demonstrates how a strong longitudinal axis is the basic means introduced by Baroque architecture to organize the plan of a building as well as its relationship to the urban environment. In his /N

As 7\ A\ 202. Cianlorenzo Bernini, Rome, Palazzo di Montecitorio (engraving). 203. Rome, Palazzo di Montecitorio. 204. Gianlorenzo Bernini, Rome, Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi, fagade (engraving by Specchi). later secular works, Bernini gave further proof of this general intention. The construction of the Palazzo di Montecitorio for the Pamphili family was started in 1650, but work was interrupted in 1655 when the building had reached the first floor. Forty years later, the palace was completed by Carlo Fontana who changed the design of the portal. In 1871 the palace became the seat of the Italian Parliament and later a large assembly hall was built within the former cortile. The plan by Bernini shows a symmetrical disposition in relation to a main axis which is emphasized by a great 16

The systematization initiated in the Palazzo Barberini, thus, has been developed further. The very long facade is dominated by a central risalto and closed at both ends by slight projections. The different sections of the wall meet at obtuse angles, creating an effect of a large protruding mass. We see, thus, that the building is no longer intended as a well-proportioned block like the Palazzo Farnese, but is determined by the general urban situation. The ground-floor is characterized as a base by means of rustication and naturalistic rock formations at both ends, while the two floors above are tied together by tall pilasters which also serve to determine the five wall-units. The central axis was to have been empha-

The simple and strong monumentality of Bernini's solution was to have a decisive importance for the development of the Late Baroque palace. In the Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi (1664-67), Bernini arrived at a further clarification of his intentions. The building had been started by Maderno, who was the architect of the cortile. Bernini added a new front, which may be considered the Baroque palace facade par excellence . Between two rusticated wings is placed a central risalto of incomparable grandeur. Again we find a giant order rising over a simple ground-floor, but here the pilasters create a regular rhythm alternating with richly ornamented windows. The risalto is accentuated by a strongly projecting cornice and a balustrade that was to have carried statues. The articulation expresses in a convincing way