Piazza del Campidoglio by Kent Wang

The Capitoline Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome and is the origin of the English word capitol. At the top of the hill is the Piazza del Campidoglio, which was designed by Michelangelo in 1546. At the height of his fame, he was commissioned by Pope Paul III, who wanted to reestablish the grandeur of Rome. Michelangelo designed the piazza and the facades of the three surrounding palazzi. &quot;The palazzi enclose a harmonious trapezoidal space, approached by the ramped staircase called the cordonata. The stepped ramp of the cordonata was intended, like a slow-moving escalator, to lift its visitors toward the sky and deposit them on the threshold of municipal authority.&quot; At the center of the piazza is the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. The original sculpture dates to 175 and is now in the Capitoline Museums; the one in the piazza is a modern copy. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Hill" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Hill</a>