Fountains of Papal Rome/Appendix

by Mrs. Charles MacVeagh

Inscriptions in Piazza di Spagna
on the Spanish Steps

I

D. O. M.
MAGNIFICAM HANC SPECTATOR QVAM MIRARIS SCALAM
VT COMMODAM AC ORNAMENTUM NON EXIGUUM
REGIO COENOBIO IPSIQ. VRBI ALLATVRAM
ANIMO CONCEPIT LEGATAQ. SVPREMIS IN TABVLIS PECVINIA
VNDE SVMPTVS SVPPEDITARENTVR CONSTRVI MANDAVIT
NOBILIS GALLVS STEPHANVS GVEFFIER
QVI REGIO IN MINISTERIO DIV PLVRES APVD PONTIFICES
ALIOSQVE SVBLIMES PRINCIPES EGREGIE VERSATVS
ROMAE VIVERE DESIIT XXX. IVNII MDCLXI.
OPVS AVTEM VARIO RERVM INTERVENTV
PRIMVM SVB CLEMENTE XI
CVM MVLTI PROPONERENTVR MODVLI ET FORMAE IN DELIBERATIONE POSITVM
DEINDE SVB INNOCENTIO XIII STABILITVM
ET R. P. BERTRANDI MONSINAT TOLOSATIS
ORD. MINIMORTUM S. FRANCISCI DE PAVLA CORRECTORIS GENLIS
FIDEI CVRAEQ. COMMISVM AC INCHOATVM
TANDEM BENEDICTO XIII FELICITER SEDENTE
CONFECTVM ABSOLVTVMQVE EST
ANNO JVBILEI MDCCXXV

II

D. O. M.
SEDENTE BENEDICTO XIII
PONT. MAX.
L U D O V I C O X V
IN GALLIIS REGNANTE
EIVSQ. APVD SANCTAM SEDEM
NEGOTIIS PRÆPOSITO
MELCHIORE S. R. ECCLESIÆ
CARDINALI DE POLIGNAC
ARCHIEPISCOPO AVSCITANO
AD SACRÆ ÆDIS ALMÆQVE VRBIS
O R N A M E N T V M
AC CIVIVM COMMODVM
MARMOREA SCALA
DIGNO TANTIS AVSPICIIS OPERE
ABSOLVTA
ANNO DOMINI MDCCXXV

Translation of Above

I

O spectator, this magnificent stairway which you gaze at in wonder, that it might afford convenience and no small ornament to the city, the noble Frenchman Etienne Gueffier conceived in his mind, and, money having been left in his will whence to defray expenses, ordered it to be built. He conducted himself with distinction in the service of the King at the courts of several pontiffs and other sublime princes, and died in Rome the thirtieth of June, 1661.

The work, however, was interrupted by a variety of things, and first in thereign of Clement XI there were placed before a council many plans and designs. It was decided upon under Clement XI, and, being intrusted to the faithful care of the Reverend Father Bertrand Monsinat of Toulouse, corrector generalis of the lesser order of St. Francis de Paul, was begun, and finally, Benedict XIII blessedly seated upon the papal chair, was brought to an end in the year of jubilee, 1725.

II

Benedict XIII sitting in the papal chair as Pontifex Maximus; Louis XV reigning in France; Melchior de Polignac, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and Archbishop of Aquitaine, being his minister at the sacred see; these marble steps, in a manner worthy of such auspices, for the ornamentation of the sacred temple (the church above) and the beloved city, and for the convenience of the citizens, were completed in the year of our Lord, 1725.