Right around the corner from my morning bus stop is Palazzo Spada, so on this lazy Sunday morning, I went out for pizza at my favorite place in Trastevere and then wandered over to Palazzo Spada to see Borromini's famous "forced perspective" colonnade.
If you want to see a video clip of the basics of the Geometry of the colonnade, check out this video clip.
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| Palazzo Spada, right around the corner from my Ponte Sisto bus stop. |
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| The famed "forced perspective" colonnade by Borromini. The statue appears to be 60 feet away...... |
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| ....but is actually only about 25 feet away. The docent standing at the statue is NOW taller than the columns. It's all about perspective and Geometry. |
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| I didn't really understand it until I went upstairs into the actual gallery and looked out the window. Turns out Cardinal Spada, the owner, had the opportunity to purchase the strip of land next to his palazzo, extending his property by the width of one house, or in our case, the length of the colonnade. |
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| Here's another look at the "width" of the added strip of land. |