Double Staircase
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An imperial staircase (sometimes erroneously known as a "double staircase") is the name given to a
staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...
with divided flights. Usually the first
flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
rises to a half-landing and then divides into two
symmetrical Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations ...
flights both rising with an equal number of steps and turns to the next
floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...
. The feature is reputed to have first been used at
El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...
. One of the grandest examples, the ''Escalier des Ambassadeurs'' at the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, 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 royal official residence, residence in London, 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 r ...
,
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
, Palazzo Reale di Caserta, Palacio Real de Madrid 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 Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...
revolutionised the design of the
piano nobile ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...
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. . 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 theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...
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, such as those at
Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house owned by the National Trust, and seat of the :Curzon family, Curzon family, located near Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village ...
, 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, 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 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 Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...
, 1878, showing the demolished ''Escalier des Ambassadeurs'' File:Imperialstairplan.jpg, A computer generated plan of the imperial staircase at Arlington Court File:Kedleston_Hall_20080730-06.jpg, 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 (), formerly known as the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (), on Arts Square in Saint Petersburg, is the world's largest depository of Russian fine art. It is also one of the largest art museums in ...
retrieved 18 November 2006

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813214235/http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/SSPOD/superstock_1009-6295_b~Jordan-Stairs-State-Hermitage-St-Petersburg-Russia-Posters.jpg , date=2018-08-13 Photograph of the imperial staircase at the
Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...
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