Gezicht op het Palazzo Senatorio, de hoofdingang van het Capitool in Rome 1862 - 1876

This photograph by Jean Andrieu captures the Palazzo Senatorio, its main entrance dominating the Capitoline Hill in Rome. The grand staircase is not merely functional; it's a symbolic ascent. Stairways appear throughout history in many guises and forms. From the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia to the celestial ladders depicted in Renaissance art, we see how stairways act as mediators between the earthly and the divine. Think of the Tower of Babel, a stairway to heaven, if you will, but fraught with earthly ambition. As the biblical tower crumbles, it reveals a collective, subconscious fear of overreaching. Here, the staircase leading to the Palazzo Senatorio is a potent symbol of Roman authority, evoking a sense of awe and perhaps even intimidation. But the Palazzo, with its stairway, is a stage for the theater of power, and what is power if not a performance of grand gestures? The image resonates beyond its immediate depiction, touching on our shared understanding of power, ambition, and the human quest for ascendancy.