Palazzo dello Spagnuolo, Naples

Palazzo dello Spagnuolo is a historic palace, and its fame rests on the theatrical staircase opening into the courtyard. The building was commissioned in 1738 by Nicola Moscati, Marchese di Poppano, and its design is attributed to Ferdinando Sanfelice. Look at the paired flights and the arches that shift across different planes: they turn the entrance into a moving pattern of stucco and shadow.

Sanfelice conceived this grand stair as a social meeting place, not merely a route between floors. Francesco Attanasio supplied the designs for the stucco, carried out by Aniello Prezioso around 1740. The palace belongs to Neapolitan Baroque, with Rococo decoration throughout. Its present name comes from Tommaso Atienza, a Spanish nobleman nicknamed “lo Spagnolo,” who later bought it and added a floor.