There is a recurring iconic image in the international productions that recently used the Royal Palace of Caserta to fictionally represent the Vatican: the Royal Staircase, heart of the Royal Palace, with its 116 marble steps, the perfect synthesis between classical rigor and perfection and theatrical, Baroque vivacity. The central ramp, guarded by two marble lions, symbols of the strength of arms and reason, splits into two side ramps that lead to the Royal Apartments. These are the majestic stairs in Conclave, the Vatican thriller based on Harris’s 2016 bestselling novel, directed by German director and screenwriter Edward Berger, starring Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal who, while managing the election of a Pope, investigates the sudden death of his predecessor, navigating power games, intrigues, alliances and mysteries.
The US-UK co-production filmed in Rome for five months, using locations built on the soundstages of Cinecittà Studios, and three days in the Royal Palace of Caserta. The immediately recognizable images include the Scalone where the prelates chat, which was featured in the trailer presented at the Rome Film Festival.
Conclave, trailer:
The same staircase – also seen in Star Wars – also appeared in Ron Howard's 2016 film, Angels & Demons with Tom Hanks, in an evocative sequence where the large, colorful group of the one hundred and eighteen most powerful cardinals of the Catholic Church slowly move down it before locking themselves inside the Vatican for the Conclave to elect the new Pope. Scenes shot at the Reggia also included the Cannocchiale, or Spyglass, a long gallery with three naves, which cuts longitudinally through four internal courtyards, offering an evocative perspective of the ground floor of the Palace.
These are not the only occasions in which the majestic Bourbon residence designed by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli, whose architecture is indeed very reminiscent of the Vatican, has been used for this purpose: in 2005 it was chosen for the miniseries John Paul II, directed by John Kent Harrison and broadcast in Italy on RAI UNO. In 2018 the Vanvitelli complex was used by the international production behind Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes with Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as Popes Ratzinger and Bergoglio. Here the Hall of Mars, or Antechamber of the Barons of the Royal Palace of Caserta is seen in the opening scenes. The Royal Staircase frames the cardinals in procession as they head to the Palatine Chapel, commissioned by King Charles III of Spain to resemble the chapel in Versailles, which served in the film as the Sistine Chapel, site of the Pope’s election: the interiors were built on the soundstages of Cinecittà Studios.