Resumen de Maderno's Building Procedures at New St. Peter's: Why the Facade First?
An article based on papers delivered at the American Academy in Rome (1991) and the Society of Architectural Historians (1997). The writer considers why Carlo Maderno built the facade first at his new St Peter's basilica in Rome, specifically in light of the impact of the Capella Paolina on the facade design, the nave design, and the construction sequence of the new basilica. She shows that maintaining the small chapel produced one of Maderno's most challenging maneuvers to complete the basilica and may have been the compelling reason to build the facade first. She concludes that maintaining the chapel while building the facade is a heretofore unheralded example of Maderno's engineering genius which dictated the construction sequence.
