An imperial staircase (sometimes erroneously known as a "double staircase") is the name given to a
staircase with divided flights. Usually the first
flight
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
rises to a
half-landing and then divides into two
symmetrical
Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definiti ...
flights both rising with an equal number of steps and turns to the next
floor. The feature is reputed to have first been used at
El Escorial
El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...
. One of the grandest examples, the ''Escalier des Ambassadeurs'' at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
, was built by 1680 but demolished in 1752 as the palace was rearranged. The
Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace is a notable example, while other such staircases can be found at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
,
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
,
Palazzo Reale di Caserta,
Palacio Real de Madrid
The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies.
The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...
and
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...
.
The advantages of an imperial staircase became apparent during the 18th century, when
Matthew Brettingham revolutionised the design of the
piano nobile
The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...
of the London town house. Guests would proceed through a series of reception rooms arranged as a circuit.
[ Girouard, Mark (1978). ''Life in the English Country House''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN, 0-300-02273-5. P. 197] At large gatherings the two branches could ease the flow of guests arriving and departing, or moving between a ballroom and a supper room on the floor below. An imperial staircase is often used today for similar reasons where two streams of people are moving in opposite directions in buildings as diverse as an
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
to a railway station. This use explains why the first single flight is often wider than the following two divided flights, although narrowing flights are also an architectural trick to lengthen perspective in order to increase the impression of size.
An imperial staircase should not be confused with a double staircase, an external feature and common motif seen rising to the entrances of many houses in the
Palladian style
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
, such as those at
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house, and seat of the :Curzon family, Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village of Kedleston was moved in 1759 by Nathanie ...
, Derbyshire. Double staircases as opposed to imperial staircases are more often of just two flights (hence the name) leaving the ground symmetrically to join one common destination. Occasionally, especially in the architecture of the
Sicilian Baroque
Sicilian Baroque is the distinctive form of Baroque architecture which evolved on the island of Sicily, off the southern coast of Italy, in the , when it was part of the Spanish Empire. The style is recognisable not only by its typical Baroque c ...
, they will leave the ground as one flight and then divide, but this is less common. One may also see an imperial staircase in the form of two flights rising to join and then continue as one flight, but this is rare.
File:Réception du Grand Condé à Versailles (Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1878).png, ''Réception du Grand Condé
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and c ...
à Versailles'', Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...
, 1878, showing the demolished ''Escalier des Ambassadeurs''
File:Imperialstairplan.jpg, A computer generated plan of the imperial staircase at Arlington Court
File:Fontainebleaustairs.gif, A double staircase differs from an imperial staircase, by having two flights leading to one destination, rather than one flight dividing to two further flights
References
English Heritage
External links
Photograph of the imperial staircase at the
Palazzo Reale di Caserta retrieved 18 November 2006
Photograph of the imperial staircase at the
Russian Museum
The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...
retrieved 18 November 2006
Photograph of the imperial staircase at the
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
retrieved 18 November 2006
Photograph of the imperial staircase at the
Wurzburg Residenz retrieved 18 November 2006
Photograph of a double staircase retrieved 18 November 2006
Architectural elements
Stairways