D.      O.      M. SEDENTE BENEDICTO XIII PONT. MAX. LUDOVICO XV IN GALLIIS REGNANTE EIVSQ. APVD SANCTAM SEDEM NEGOTIIS PRÆPOSITO MELCHIORE S. R. ECCLESIÆ CARDINALI DE POLIGNAC ARCHIEPISCOPO AVSCITANO AD SACRÆ ÆDIS ALMÆQVE VRBIS ORNAMENTVM AC CIVIVM COMMODVM MARMOREA SCALA DIGNO TANTIS AVSPICIIS OPERE ABSOLVTA ANNO DOMINI MDCCXXV TRANSLATION OF ABOVE I O spectator, this magnificent stairway which you gaze at in wonder, that it might afford convenience and no small ornament to the city, the noble Frenchman Etienne Guéffier conceived in his mind, and, money having been left in his will whence to defray expenses, ordered it to be built. He conducted himself with distinction in the service of the King at the courts of several pontiffs and other sublime princes, and died in Rome the thirtieth of June, 1661. The work, however, was interrupted by a variety of things, and first in the reign of Clement XI there were placed before a council many plans and designs. It was decided upon under Clement XI, and, being intrusted to the faithful care of the Reverend Father Bertrand Monsinat of Toulouse, corrector generalis of the lesser order of St. Francis de Paul, was begun, and finally, Benedict XIII blessedly seated upon the papal chair, was brought to an end in the year of jubilee, 1725. II Benedict XIII sitting in the papal chair as Pontifex Maximus; Louis XV reigning in France; Melchior de Polignac, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and Archbishop of Aquitaine, being his minister at the sacred see; these marble steps, in a manner worthy of such auspices, for the ornamentation of the sacred temple (the church above) and the beloved city, and for the convenience of the citizens, were completed in the year of our Lord, 1725. FOOTNOTES [A] The Queen’s palace was in the rear of Raphael’s house and faced the Borgo Vecchio. Opposite to it was the palace of Cesare Borgia. [B] Sixtus V was severely criticised for substituting his own arms for those of his predecessor, Gregory XIII, in the Quirinal Palace, and after Sixtus’s death the Boncompagni arms were restored to their original place.