Die Staffelgiebel. La facciata a gradoni a Roma tra XIII-XIV secolo

The motif of the stepped gable (Staffelgiebel), widely diffused in northern European architecture, is attested in Rome within a clearly defined chronological span, between the late thirteenth century and the early decades of the fourteenth. Its presence, documented by material, documentary, and figurative sources, concerns buildings of different functions—from public palaces to noble residences, from monastic complexes to churches—and cannot be regarded as isolated or marginal episodes. The adoption of the stepped profile must rather be understood as part of a coherent phenomenon, destined, however, to rapid decline and lacking continuity in the subsequent Roman architectural tradition. The philological reconstruction of the evidence, including later visual representations, makes it possible to place the Roman examples among the earliest attestations of this motif, which would later enjoy wide diffusion across northern Europe, while in the Italian context it disappeared swiftly, surviving only in sporadic cases and variants in the northern regions. The investigation therefore focuses on typological definition, constructive implications, and the historical reasons for this formal feature, restoring a distinctive episode within medieval Roman architectural culture and providing new insights into the dynamics of its brief but significant fortune.