Inter-National Rome. Mapping Collective Identities in Via Giulia
Via Giulia, commissioned in 1508 by Pope Julius II and designed by Donato Bramante, was intended as an artery connecting the city’s most important governmental institutions. One of several functions of the new axis was to channel and manage the pilgrims who crowded the city, especially on the occasion of Holy Years. For this reason, Via Giulia and its neighborhood were occupied by the hospices, oratories, and churches of foreign communities, such as those built by the Florentine, Sienese, Neapolitan, Bolognese, Brescian, Catalan, and English ‘nations.’ Taking the groundbreaking book on Via Giulia by Salerno, Spezzaferro, and Tafuri (1973) as its point of departure, this project focuses on the social and performative aspects resulting from the coexistence of numerous foreign communities in this neighborhood and their impact on visual culture. The siting of foreign institutions within the specific topographical context of Via Giulia is analyzed in relation to their appropriation of urban space for religious and charitable activities and the relative political implications. A thorough study of the networks of people involved in these institutions has the potential to arrive at new insights into their administrative structure and their interaction with other institutions within and outside of Rome.
