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Introduction

(Introduzione)

The Royal Palace of Caserta is a royal residence, historically belonging to the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, located in Caserta. Commissioned by Charles of Bourbon, the laying of the first stone, which started the construction work, took place on January 20, 1752, based on a project by Luigi Vanvitelli: this was followed by his son Carlo and other architects. The palace was completed in 1845.

History: from the abandonment to the new building

(Storia: dall'abbandono al nuovo palazzo)

On May 15, 1717, George Berkeley described a villa, located about half a mile from the town of Caserta, in a state of decay and abandonment: "The house has completely decayed, but the paintings in the pavilions and the marble-clad arcades indicate that it was splendid abode. The gardens are extensive but abandoned. The avenues cross a large grove: fountains, niches, statues and among these there is one that depicts a shepherd playing the flute. It all goes back 150 years, but it is now in ruins, despite the fact that the Prince comes to spend part of the time there. " (George Berkeley) In 1751 Carlo bought the fiefdom of Caserta from the Caetani di Sermoneta family, including the villa, with the idea of establishing the new administrative center of the kingdom in this place, in a place generally considered safe, away from the eruptions of the Vesuvius and pirate attacks, such as that of 1742, operated by the British, at the same time adapting to the canons of Enlightenment urban planning already present in centers such as Vienna or Paris: the new building should have been completely self-sufficient, alongside a productive urban nucleus . Even before the purchase of the plot in 1750, the king had chosen Luigi Vanvitelli as architect, after having received permission from Pope Benedict XIV, since he was engaged in the restoration of the basilica of the Holy House of Loreto: the project of the palace, with an adjoining garden, it arrived in Naples on November 22, 1751. On the day of the king's thirty-sixth birthday, January 20, 1752, work began, with the ceremony of the first stone, in the presence of the Papal Nuncio, Vanvitelli.

History: the construction site

(Storia: il cantiere)

Workers and slaves were used in the palace site: in 1760 there were over two thousand men. All the products used in the construction were taken or produced in the surrounding areas, such as tuff from San Nicola la Strada, lime from San Leucio, gray marble from Mondragone, pozzolana from Bacoli and travertine from Bellona: with the exception of white marble. of Carrara and the iron of Follonica. Up to the moment in which the king left Naples to return to Spain, in 1759, and to which Ferdinand IV succeeded, the works proceeded quickly, only to suffer a slowdown: in 1764 they stopped due to an epidemic of cholera and a famine, the same events which also occurred the following year. In 1773 Luigi Vanvitelli died and the construction was not yet finished: the continuation of the work was entrusted to his son Carlo. Although it was incomplete, the palace began to be inhabited from 1789: Giuseppe Maria Galanti, in the same year, stated that the work had already cost seven million ducats and that over two thousand people were engaged in the building site. With the proclamation of the Neapolitan Republic in 1799, the palace, as well as the other properties of the Crown, were expropriated: although not suffering serious damage, the furniture was looted, later recovered following the Restoration. The construction work also continued during the French decade, as we read in a writing by Stendhal: "Murat tried to have this Palace completed: the frescoes are even worse than those in Paris and the furnishings of greater splendor." (Stendhal) Carlo Vanvitelli died in 1821 and other architects succeeded him: the palace was completed in 1845; Compared to the original design, due to economic difficulties, the corner towers, the central dome and the housing for the guards that had to enclose the square in front were eliminated from the project.

History: from the unification of Italy to the present day

(Storia: dall'Unità d'Italia ai giorni nostri)

In the palace, on May 22, 1859, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies died. The following year, precisely on 21 October 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi wrote from the palace to King Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy to give him the province of Terra di Lavoro. In 1919 the whole complex passed from a royal property to the state property. It suffered various damage during the Second World War: in October 1943 it became the headquarters of the allies, while on April 27, 1945, Nazi Germany signed the unconditional surrender to the Anglo-American forces, sanctioning the end of the conflict [. In 1997 the complex of the Royal Palace of Caserta was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

Royal Palace: introduction

(Palazzo Reale: introduzione)

The Royal Palace of Caserta is located at the western end of Caserta, a city that owes its development to the royal complex: in fact, the ancient center of Caserta is to be found in what was later called Casertavecchia, while today's city , was, before the construction of the palace, a village called La Torre, a name deriving from a tower of the Acquaviva d'Aragona. The square in front has an elliptical shape and housed the military parades: according to the project, on the sides, housings for the royal guards were to have risen, which were then not built. In 1789, Giuseppe Maria Galanti, visiting the still unfinished building, wrote: «The main facade at noon towards Naples has a beautiful square with an elliptical shape, which contains the stables. From Naples you have to enter this square by a magnificent road, adorned with four orders of elms, which are already formed and arranged. " An avenue must have reached the square, about fifteen kilometers long, which connected the building directly to Naples, which was also partially built. The royal palace has an area of 47 000 square meters: its length is 247 meters, a width of 190 and a height of 41; it has a rectangular shape with four internal courtyards with rounded corners of 45 degrees, each with a length of 74 meters by a width of 52; at the meeting point between the two arms, where, in the original project, a dome was to rise, there is a lantern. There are five floors: ground, mezzanine, noble floor, second floor and attic, as well as an underground floor, lit through loopholes, which housed cellars, kitchens and workshops. Internally there are 1 200 rooms, 34 stairways, while the windows are 1 742. The basement of the building houses the Museum of Opera and Territory.

Royal Palace: the Facade

(Palazzo Reale: la Facciata)

The façade is made of bricks, travertine from Santo Iorio and marble from Carrara, Sicily and southern Italy: in particular, the ground floor and the first floor have an ashlar base, the main and second floors are characterized by half-columns and pilasters, the windows on the top floor are placed inside an entablature, while the cornice is protected by a balustrade. The same pattern can be found on the internal façade, with the addition of parestas around the windows on the first and second floors. The original project included four towers at the four corners of the façade, which were never built, which would have made the palace of Caserta resemble the monastery of the Escorial. In confirmation of this Galanti wrote: "Vanvitelli would have wanted another idea, but according to the drawing formed, the edifice had to be finished on the four sides by four towers, which should have enclosed two other floors and the upper vestibule of the staircase. it had to end with a large dome. " The windows of the main facade are 245 and three entrances: the main entrance is characterized, on the sides, by four bases, which should have housed four statues never made depicting Magnificence, Justice, Clemency and Peace, as well as that of Charles III who would have had to be housed in the niche above the main door, which is framed in coupled columns, bears an epigraph with the dates of construction of the palace and commemorates the memory of Charles and Ferdinand IV.

(Allergen: Nuts)

The lower vestibule

(Il Vestibolo inferiore)

After passing the central entrance door, you enter the internal gallery, also called the Cannocchiale (the telescope), as it allows a perspective view of the park with the fountains, up to the artificial waterfall of Mount Briano; the gallery has three naves: the central one was used for carriages, while the two lateral ones for pedestrians. At the center of the gallery is the lower vestibule: it has an octagonal plan and allows you to have a view of all four courtyards; from one of the courtyards, on the western side, you enter the court theater, the only part of the palace entirely completed, even in the decorations, by Luigi Vanvitelli. In a niche on the left side of the vestibule there is a marble statue of Hercules at rest, with a height of three meters, originally attributed to Andrea Violani, only to later discover that it came from the Baths of Caracalla and arrived in Naples together with the rest of the Farnese collection in 1766; the other statues that adorn the vestibule are Venus and Germanicus by Andrea Violani and Apollo and Antinous by Pietro Solari

The Scalone, the big staircase

(Lo Scalone)

On the right side of the vestibule opens the staircase that leads inside the building: formed by a total of one hundred and sixteen steps in white Carrara marble, the staircase is composed of a central ramp that ends on a landing, from which two more branch off. parallel ramps leading to the upper vestibule. The whole room is decorated on the walls with colored marble, with the addition of Biliemi marble columns, and the lighting is allowed through twenty-four windows. The central ramp ends with two Lions, made by Paolo Persico and Tommaso Solari, which symbolize the strength of arms and reason. The back wall is distinguished by three niches that house three plaster statues, which originally must have been in marble, depicting the Royal Majesty in the center, in the figure of Charles of Bourbon holding a scepter in one hand with an eye open at the tip. symbolize the king's knowledge of what he commands, on the left Merito, a young man with a laurel wreath on his head and a sword in the scabbard, and on the left Truth, a woman holding a shining sun: the sculptures are respectively the work of Tommaso Solari , Andrea Violani and Gaetano Salomone. The vault is frescoed with the Palace of Apollo, by Girolamo Starace Franchis, surrounded by medallions depicting the Seasons, while the lighting is given by four large windows. On the staircase Domenico Bartolini wrote in 1827: "I am telling the truth, that if there was something to criticize in the Regia di Caserta, in my opinion it is certainly given the excessive magnificence of this staircase, which obscures the sumptuousness of the chapel, and 'real apartments "

The upper vestibule: introduction

(Il Vestibolo superiore: introduzione)

The upper vestibule, a replica of the one below, is also octagonal in plan, with twenty-four columns: these are divided into eight central trapezoidal columns in red brecciolina that support the vault and sixteen columns in Ionic order in yellow brecciolina from the Gargano. In the Bourbon period, the orchestra sat above the vault of the vestibule, which welcomed guests to the palace with its music.

The upper vestibule: the Palatine Chapel

(Il Vestibolo superiore: la Cappella Palatina)

From the upper vestibule you have access to both the Palatine chapel, which was consecrated on December 25, 1784 and preserves a canvas depicting the Immaculate Conception, by Giuseppe Bonito, on the main altar, and to the royal apartments.

The Upper Vestibule: the Rooms of the Apartments

(Il Vestibolo Superiore: le Sale degli Appartamenti)

The rooms of the royal apartments, located on the main floor, were decorated between the 18th and 19th centuries: in particular, those embellished in the 18th century have a Rococo decoration, while those of the 19th century in Empire style.

The Upper Vestibule: the Halberdiers Room

(Il Vestibolo Superiore: la Sala degli Alabardieri)

The Hall of the Halberdiers was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli and completed by his son Carlo: the vault is frescoed with the arms of the Bourbon House supported by virtue, by Domenico Mondo from 1789, and the sketch of which is kept at the Louvre Museum. Both the doors and the windows are framed in marble and surmounted by stucco decorations, depicting weapons and trophies, made by Andrea Calì and Angelo Maria Brunelli. Tommaso Bucciano between 1787 and 1789 sculpted the eight female busts in scagliola, which reproduce the Allegory of the arts, positioned on the upper register of the walls. The furniture dates back to the 18th century and consists of stools and consoles of Neapolitan manufacture: on the consoles there are marble busts of the queens, including Maria Carolina of Habsburg, made by Konrad Heinrich, Maria Isabella, Maria Cristina of Savoy and Maria Sofia by Wittelsbach

The Upper Vestibule: the Hall of the Bodyguards

(Il Vestibolo Superiore: la Sala delle Guardie del Corpo)

The Hall of the Body Guards is also called the Sala degli Stucchi for the stucco decorations on the walls, which are enriched with Doric pilasters that support a cornice: the vault is frescoed with The Glory of the Prince and the twelve provinces of the Kingdom, by Girolamo Starace Franchis from 1785. The furniture consists of a fireplace by Carlo Beccalli, four half-round consoles of Neapolitan manufacture from the 18th century on which are placed the busts of Ferdinando I, Antonio Canova, Francesco I, Giuseppe Del Nero, Ferdinando II and Francesco II, of unknowns, and stools in Empire style that were transferred to the palace from the Tuileries palace in Paris, at the behest of Joachim Murat during the French occupation. The twelve bas-reliefs positioned along the walls, which depict episodes of the Second Punic War, were made between 1786 and 1789 by Gaetano Salomone, Tommaso Bucciano and Paolo Persico; furthermore, in the center of the right wall, there is the marble sculpture Alessandro Farnese crowned by Victory: the work, commissioned by Odoardo Farnese, was part of the Farnese collection and was transferred to the Royal Palace of Caserta at the behest of Ferdinand IV in 1789

The Upper Vestibule: the Alexander Room

(Il Vestibolo Superiore: la Sala di Alessandro)

The Alexander room is located exactly in the center of the facade of the palace. It retains the initial decorations of Carlo Vanvitelli, even if it was remodeled during the Murattina era, when it was used as a throne room: the throne of Murat was built by Georges Jacob for Napoleon Bonaparte and consisted of a chair, a footrest, a armchair and stool. Further changes took place during the reign of Ferdinand II; in fact, in the French period, it was decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the exploits of Murat: following the Bourbon restoration these were removed by replacing them with two canvases, Abdication of Charles of Bourbon in favor of his son Ferdinand IV in 1759, by Gennaro Maldarelli and made in 1849, and The Victory of Charles of Bourbon at the Battle of Velletri, by Camillo Guerra. The ceiling is frescoed with Mariano Rossi's Marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxane from 1787. Six bas-reliefs are placed on the doors: Philip the Macedonian entrusts Alexander the youth to Aristotle, Alexander in Delphi forces the Pythia to predict his future, Alexander delivers his will before dying, made by Tito Angelini, Alexander tames Bucephalus, Alexander covers with the his mantle the corpse of Darius and Iassile in Egypt offers to Alexander all his possessions, by Gennaro Calì. On the fireplace there is a medallion, in peach blossom marble, with the profile of Alexander the Great by Valerio Villareale and a clock with a 24-hour dial from 1828

The Upper Vestibule: the TerraeMotus Collection

(Il Vestibolo Superiore: la Collezione TerraeMotus)

Behind the Alessandro room is exhibited, in twenty rooms, the TerraeMotus collection: this was commissioned by Lucio Amelio, who, following the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, invited contemporary artists to present a work that had as its theme that of the tragic event. Sixty-five artists responded to the initiative including Andy Warhol with Fate Presto, Giulio Paolini with The Other Figure, Keith Haring with Untitled, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mario Schifano, Tony Cragg and Joseph Beuys. The collection was exhibited for the first time in Boston in 1983, followed by Villa Campolieto in Herculaneum and the Grand Palais in Paris: it was definitively donated to the Royal Palace of Caserta in 1993, to then be exhibited cyclically starting from the following year.

New Apartment: the Hall of Mars

(Appartamento Nuovo: la Sala di Marte)

The Hall of Mars was also called Anteroom for the Titolati (those who possess a noble title) and Barons of the Kingdom, Major Officers and Foreign Intendants, as a meeting place for titled nobles: it was built by Antonio De Simone with the collaboration of Étienne-Chérubin Leconte and celebrated military virtues of the French who had managed to conquer Naples. The vault is frescoed with works by Antonio Calliano from 1813 depicting the triumph of Achilles protected by Mars and the death of Hector. On the fireplace there is the bas-relief Forza, Prudenza and Fama, by Valerio Villareale, while on the doors are the bas-reliefs with themes concerning the Trojan War; in the center of the short walls two winged Victories. The flooring dates back to 1815, made with three different types of marble, namely ancient green, alabaster and Carrara and is arranged in such a way as to form geometric patterns, with a star in the center of a hexagon framed in a Greek. At the center of the hall is an alabaster and serpentine marble cup, from a Roman workshop, from the first half of the 18th century, donated to Ferdinand II by Pope Pius IX for the hospitality received during the Roman Republic. The furniture includes consoles with oriental marble top: on one of these rests a bust, perhaps depicting Arianna, in which is set a clock by Courvoisier Frères, which arrived in Caserta in 1852 and complete with two elements that have been lost, namely a diadem in bronze and a glass bell.

New Apartment: the Hall of Astrea

(Appartamento Nuovo: la Sala di Astrea)

The Hall of Astrea, also called the Anteroom for Career Gentlemen, Ambassadors, Secretaries of State and other privileged people, since it is intended for ambassadors, gentlemen and secretaries of state, owes its name to the fresco placed in the vault, depicting the Triumph of Astrea, by Jacques Berger in 1815: the painter, to portray Astra, was inspired by Carolina Bonaparte, wife of Murat. It was Murat himself who commissioned the room and the construction work was done by Antonio De Simone with the help of Étienne-Chérubin Leconte. On the short sides of the room there are two high reliefs: the first, by Valerio Villareale, Minerva as Reason between Stability and Legislation, while the second, by Domenico Masucci, Astrea between Hercules and the Kingdom of the two Sicilies. Even the bas-reliefs placed in the vault, of golden color, have the figure of Astrea as their theme.

New Apartment: the Throne Hall

(Appartamento Nuovo: la Sala del Trono)

The throne room has a length of thirty-five meters by a width of thirteen and is illuminated by six windows; it was completed in 1845, on the occasion of the Congress of Italian Scientists: the work began in 1811 under the direction of Pietro Bianchi and then passed into the hands of Gaetano Genovese. Twenty-eight fluted columns are placed along the walls, arranged in pairs, the capitals of which were sculpted by Gennaro Aveta: the artist is also the author of the decorations of the overdoors depicting Bourbon symbols and honors of the kingdom. On the short walls there are two bas-reliefs whose theme is Fame, by Tito Angelini and Tommaso Arnaud, while on the architrave there are 44 medallions with portraits of the kings of Naples, from Roger the Norman to Ferdinand II. The vault is frescoed with the work The laying of the first stone of the Palazzo on January 20, 1752, by Gennaro Maldarelli, from 1845. The throne, placed at the back of the room, is in carved and gilded wood, with armrests in the shape of winged lions , on the sides two mermaids symbol of the city of Naples and covered in blue velvet: it was probably a boat throne, dates back to the nineteenth century

New Apartment: back rooms of the Throne Hall

(Appartamento Nuovo: retrostanze della Sala del Trono)

In the back rooms of the throne room and the Astrea room there are drawings and models of the rooms of the royal palace of Caserta. In the Luigi Vanvitelli room, so called because of a painting by Giacinto Diano and which has the architect as its protagonist, there is a model of the palace made by Antonio Rosz between 1756 and 1759. In another room they are kept of the wooden models of the rooms of Mars and Astrea, made around 1813, the model of the Throne room, of the fountain of Aeolus, also by Rosz, while on the walls of the tables taken from the Declarations of the drawings of the Royal Palace of Caserta drawn up by Luigi Vanvitelli in 1756 with engravings by Rocco Pozzi, Carlo Nolli and Nicola D'Orazi. Also made by Rosz, in the center of the third room, is the model of the facade of the building, while on the walls sketches by Domenico Masucci and Valerio Villareale, as well as drawings by Luigi and Carlo Vanvitelli.

King's Apartment: the Council Room

(Appartamento del Re: la Sala del Consiglio)

The Sala del Consiglio in the vault presents Pallas who rewards the arts and sciences by means of the Genius of Glory, by Giuseppe Cammarano of 1814: among the furniture a neo-baroque table in Sèvres porcelain, a gift from Naples to Francesco II of the Two Sicilies for the wedding with Maria Sofia of Bavaria

King's Apartment: the living room of Francesco

(Appartamento del Re: il Salotto di Francesco)

The living room of Francesco II follows: detail is a console with a hard stone shelf made in the Real Laboratory of Naples, based on a design by Gennaro Cappella

King's Apartment: the Bedroom of Francis II

(Appartamento del Re: la Camera da Letto di Francesco II°)

The bedroom of Francesco II, originally Murat's bedroom, has on the ceiling a fresco by Cammarano, the Rest of Theseus after the killing of the Minotaur, framed in a sort of painted tapestry, supported by spears. In the room there is also the canopy bed that ends with the heads of Pallas and Mars, as well as two winged Genes; among the other furnishing elements a table resting on winged sphinxes, a mirror, a mahogany armchair, a desk in inlaid pink wood and pillar bedside tables

King's Apartment: the Bathroom

(Appartamento del Re: la Stanza del Bagno)

Adjacent to the bedroom is the bathroom, in neoclassical style, with a granite bathtub decorated with lion figures and a toilet in Carrara marble, built in 1829; in the vault is a fresco by Cammarano, Ceres.

Murat Apartment: introduction

(Appartamento Murattiano: introduzione)

The so-called Murattiano Apartment (Murat Apartment) was set up on the occasion of the French conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, at the beginning of the 19th century, when Gioacchino Murat lived in the palace: the rooms are all in neoclassical style and the walls are covered with San Leucio silk. Part of the furnishings come from the palace of Portici

Murat Apartment: the first antechamber

(Appartamento murattiano: la prima anticamera)

The first antechamber has a vaulted ceiling with Minerva invites Telemachus from Ithaca by Franz Hill, painted between 1814 and 1815; on the walls two canvases depicting Tournaments in front of the Royal Palace, by Salvatore Fregola from 1849

Murat Apartment: the second anteroom

(Appartamento murattiano: la seconda anticamera)

The vault of the Second antechamber bears the fresco Ettore reproaches Paride, by Cammarano; on the walls, as well as various French portraits from the Napoleonic era, also Lunch offered to the poor by Gioacchino Murat by Gaetano Gigante

Murat's apartment: Murat's bedroom

(Appartamento murattiano: la camera da letto di Murat)

Murat's bedroom has a canopy bed, which was designed by Leconte and features decorations in gilded shields and bronze. The furniture is in Empire, French and Neapolitan style, all coming from Portici; among the paintings on the walls, General Massena, from 1808, and Giulia Clary and her daughters, from 1809, both by Jean-Baptiste Wicar

Murat Apartment: the other antechambers

(Appartamento murattiano: le altre anticamere)

There follow two antechambers that present respectively the frescoed vaults with Bacchae, fauns and putti joking, by Franz Hill, and Minerva in the act of awarding the Sciences and the Arts, by Cammarano

Murat apartment: the oratory of Pius IX

(Appartamento murattiano: l'oratorio di Pio IX)

The oratory of Pius IX, formerly a court oratory, was dedicated to Pope Pius IX on the occasion of his visit to the palace in 1850, as a guest of Ferdinand II. The altar was designed by Antonio Niccolini and built between 1830 and 1848, and on which is sculpted a representation of the Virgin between angels and cherubs in marble, by Gaetano Della Rocca. The rest of the decorations in the chapel are clearly inspired by Correggio and Pinturicchio: there is also a portrait of Pius IX, by Lorenzo Bartolini from 1847.

Murat Apartment: the sitting room of Pius IX

(Appartamento murattiano: il salottino di Pio IX)

The sedan chair used by the pope and some of his portraits are kept in the sitting room of Pius IX, such as Portrait of Pius IX by Tommaso De Vivo and View of Gaeta with the Pope blessing the troops of Frans Vervloet

Murattiano apartment: the room of musical objects

(Appartamento murattiano: la sala degli oggetti musicali)

One room exhibits musical-themed objects, in particular a secrétaire and a cabinet with two doors which contain two cylinder organs made around the 1920s by Anton Beye

Murat Apartment: the other rooms

(Appartamento murattiano: le altre sale)

In the other rooms are collected models and mechanisms of rides that Leopoldo di Borbone had made for the park of the Villa Favorita in Herculaneum, Maria Carolina's favorite residence. In the last room there are two cradles: one that belonged to Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy, designed by Domenico Morelli, with wood carvings, and another that belonged to Vittorio Emanuele, in mahogany, with silk padding, silver and coral decorations and cameos made in Torre del Greco

Old Apartment: introduction

(Appartamento Vecchio: introduzione)

The Alexander room allows access to the Old Apartment, the one that according to Vanvitelli's project was to be the fourth of the crown prince: however, while waiting for the building to be completed, the area was inhabited by Ferdinand IV and his wife Maria Carolina from the end of the 18th century. On the death of the architect, the apartment was finished by his son Carlo, who perfectly respected his father's project: however, with the help of painters and cabinetmakers, he himself designed the furnishings and decorations. Then follow four rooms with decorations inspired by the cycle of the seasons

Old Apartment: the Spring Hall

(Appartamento Vecchio: la Sala della Primavera)

The Sala della Primavera (Spring Hall) takes its name from the fresco in the vault made by Antonio De Dominicis; the floor is in terracotta painted in imitation marble, as in the following rooms, while the chandelier is in Murano glass. The pictorial decorations on the walls consist of canvases that have as their theme the views of the kingdom made by the court painter Jakob Philipp Hackert: three works are that of Il yard di Castellammare when the Partenope vessel is launched, Il yard di Castellammare with the his galeotte, Forio d'Ischia, The bay of Naples taken by Santa Lucia with the return of the team from Algiers, The port of Naples with Castel Sant'Elmo and the port and the Abbey of Gaeta. On the doors and on the mirrors other canvases with the subject Music and Poetry, by Giovan Battista Rossi

Old Apartment: the Summer Hall

(Appartamento Vecchio: la Sala dell'Estate)

The Sala dell'Estate, (Summer Hall) originally used as a reception, presents Proserpina in the vault who during the Summer returns from the kingdom of the dead to her mother Ceres, created by Fedele Fischetti between 1778 and 1779: the fresco is surrounded by four medallions with the representations of Diana, Apollo, Jupiter and Neptune, by Giacomo Funaro. The canvases on the doors and the mirrors, which represent the Liberal Arts, are the work of Giovan Battista Rossi. The chandelier in this room is also in Murano glass, while the console tables with Mondragone marble top were made by Gennaro Fiore and decorated by Bartolomeo Di Natale. In the center there is a petrified wood table by Girolamo Segato

Old Apartment: the Autumn Hall

(Appartamento vecchio: la Sala dell'Autunno)

What in 1799 was cataloged as a Room next to that of the audience, which had the function of a dining room, is the Autumn room, with a vault frescoed by Antonio De Dominicis, with The meeting between Bacchus and Ariadne in the central medallion, while around, in the other medallions, Satyrs and Maenads, the work of Giacomo Funaro. The room is decorated on the walls with still life paintings made by Neapolitan painters while on the doors and mirrors canvases by Gaetano Starace such as Ceres, Diana the huntress, Vulcan, Saturn, Juno, Apollo, Neptune and Mars. The furniture is made up of mirrors and consoles also by Gennaro Fiore: there is also a French pendulum clock, two Capodimonte porcelain fruit bowls, a white porcelain corbeille by Raffaele Giovine from 1847, and a pair of 18th century Saxon vases

Old Apartment: the Winter Hall

(Appartamento Vecchio: la Sala dell'Inverno)

The Winter Room, originally the Room where His Majesty the King undresses and dresses, presents in the center of the ceiling Borea kidnapping Orizia, by Fedele Fischetti and Filippo Pascale, while in the central medallions scenes from the myth of Venus and Adonis. On the walls works by Hackert such as Santa Maria della Piana, Hunting in the Astroni crater, Ferdinand IV's wild boar hunting in Calvi, Wild boar hunting at the Venafro bridge, Military exercises in Gaeta, as well as still lifes by Neapolitan painters. Part of the furniture such as sofas and chairs, carved by Nicola and Pietro Fiore between 1796 and 1798, come from Villa Favorita in Herculaneum; in the center of the room a table in semi-precious stones and carved gilded wood, by Giovanni Mugnai from 1804, and console table with porcelain, including a corbeille made by Raffaele Giovine

Old Apartment: Ferdinand IV's apartment

(Appartamento Vecchio: l'appartamento di Ferdinando IV)

Then follows the King's Apartment. The first room, what was originally defined as the Rich Cabinet of His Majesty the King, is the Studiolo (tiny study)of Ferdinand IV: the vault features frescoes by Gaetano Magri, depicting floral and griffin motifs, while on the walls there are seven cameos with depictions of War, Peace, Abundance, Strength, Merit, Justice and Innocence, by Carlo Brunelli; the walls are also covered with wooden panels where the gouaches made by Hackert are placed, depicting various places in the kingdom such as Capri, San Leucio and Cava de 'Tirreni. On the over doors drawings of divinities such as Jupiter administering justice alongside Juno with the peacock. Originally the furniture was in the Rococo style but later, following the purchases of the king in Paris in the 1790s, it was replaced by one in the neoclassical style, made by Adam Weisweiler: of the original furniture only a few chairs remain, while the rest are copies made at the end of the 19th century. The King's study has walls covered in 18th century damask paper; the paintings on display are: Military maneuvers in the Montefusco plain and Military maneuvers in the Sessa plain by Hackert, painted respectively in 1788 and 1794. On the mobile red-figure vases of the Giustiniani factory.

Old Apartment: Ferdinand IV's bedroom

(Appartamento Vecchio: la camera da letto di Ferdinando IV)

Finally, you enter the bedroom of Ferdinand IV: in this room, on May 22, 1859, Ferdinand II died of a mysterious disease that was considered contagious and for this reason the entire furniture was burned and the room was newly furnished, this time with Empire style furniture. Among the furniture: two pillar bedside tables, an inlaid desk and a chest of drawers decorated in gilded bronze; the vases and busts of Ferdinand II and Maria Cristina of Savoy, the latter two by Luigi Pampaloni, are in Neapolitan porcelain. On one wall Allegory for the death of two sons of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, by Pompeo Batoni

The Queen's Apartment: introduction

(Appartamento della Regina: introduzione)

The Queen's Apartment consists of four rooms, furnished by Queen Maria Carolina of Austria during the 1780s.

Queen's Apartment: the work room

(Appartamento della Regina: la stanza da lavoro)

The work room has a vault frescoed by Antonio De Dominicis with Mars, Apollo, Jupiter and Mercury, from which hangs a chandelier in gilded bronze and wood with characteristic sculptures of cherry tomatoes, symbol of Campania Felix: the work was created by Gennaro Fiore and Francesco Serious. The walls are covered in yellow satin, while the mirrors come from the Real Fabbrica di Castellammare. The furniture consists of two pink wooden dressers and a console on which rests a gilt bronze clock arrived from Vienna: another clock, made by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, is similar to a gilded cage that originally also contained a bird in stones hard and which was donated by Marie Antoinette to Maria Carolina

The Queen's Apartment: the Cabinet of Mirrors

(Appartamento della Regina: il Gabinetto degli Specchi)

We pass to the queen's private sitting room called the Cabinet of Mirrors: the fresco on the ceiling, La toilette di Venere, is the work of Fedele Fischetti; the mirrors in the center of the walls are decorated with festoons of white stucco flowers. The furniture is the work of Gennaro Fiore and Bartolomeo Di Natale and consists of a wall table, corner cabinets with marble top and armchairs in white wood covered with San Leucio silk.

The Queen's Apartment: the Queen's Bathroom

(Appartamento della Regina: il Bagno della Regina)

The Queen's Bath is decorated in rocaille with festoons of fruit and flowers; on the walls Birth of Venus and The Three Graces, by Fedele Fischetti. The tub is in white marble, sculpted by Gaetano Salomone and is lined with copper: it was also equipped with taps for both hot and cold water; There is also a mahogany bidet with a gilt bronze bathtub. We then come to the back, which houses the actual cabinet, with a gilded bronze lid; on the walls there are marble hand basins supported by imitations of eagle wings. The walls are decorated with twelve pillars ending with a capital decorated with the heads of women with blindfolded eyes, so as not to upset the royals; the pillars are interspersed with paintings of ancient scenes on a gold background, probably made by Filippo Pascale

The Queen's Apartment: the Golden Age room

(Appartamento della Regina: la sala dell'Età dell'Oro)

The Hall of the Golden Age, which owes its name to the ceiling fresco by Fedele Fischetti from 1779, was originally a bedroom and converted into a reception room in the mid-19th century. Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Harmony are the paintings placed on the over doors; on the walls instead Imene and Modesty by Francesco De Mura, Simplicity and Truth, Innocence and Day and Night, by Giuseppe Bonito: these last three works were the preparatory sketches for making tapestries. The furniture consists of sofas, chairs and armchairs in painted wood

The Queen's Apartment: the Court Ladies' room

(Appartamento della Regina: la sala delle Dame di Corte)

The Sala delle Dame di Corte has a vaulted ceiling with The abduction of Cephalus by Aurora on a chariot pulled by cherubs, by Fedele Fischetti and Filippo Pascale, while portraits of ancient women by Domenico are added on the over doors and mirrors. World, from 1781

Palatine Library: introduction

(Biblioteca Palatina: introduzione)

The Palatine Library was built in about three years at the behest of Queen Maria Carolina of Austria, to which additions were added by Joachim Murat and Ferdinand II, along the eastern side of the building. The volumes collected, about fourteen thousand, were sorted by subject by Francesco Ceva Grimaldi: the topics covered range from European culture to Neapolitan and Viennese culture, from archeology to mathematics, geography, botany, zoology and opera, dance and music librettos and on Neapolitan theaters.

Palatine Library: the First Room

(Biblioteca Palatina: la Prima Sala)

The first reading room of the library has a vault frescoed with a work by Filippo Pascale based on a design by Luigi Vanvitelli, a planisphere surrounded by the zodiac signs and constellations, while the bookcases are in mahogany and surmounted by copies of ancient vases, similar to those found in the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, dating back to the eighteenth century and made by the Giustiniani factory; the decorations are completed by two paintings entitled Inauguration of the Naples-Portici railway by Salvatore Fregola and two Views by Antonio Veronese

Palatine Library: the Second Room

(Biblioteca Palatina: la Seconda Sala)

The second room has a vaulted ceiling with floral motifs, the work of Gaetano Magri. The shelves are in mahogany wood, the wardrobes in walnut, while the armchair could also be used as a ladder to reach the highest parts of the bookcases; There are also consoles in white wood and gilded carvings on which two porcelain lamps with Chinese designs rest. Among the paintings: Rape of the Sabines and Apollo and Marsyas by Luca Giordano and Europe, Asia, Africa and America, in the form of allegories, attributed to pupils of Giordano's school. On the back of the room, two rooms housed the works from the nearby convent of the Compassionist Fathers, recovered in the nineteenth century

Palatine Library: the Third Room

(Biblioteca Palatina: la Terza Sala)

The third room has on the walls the frescoes of Apollo, The Three Graces, Envy and Wealth, The School of Athens and The Protection of the Arts and the Expulsion of Ignorance, by Heinrich Friedrich Füger: the series of allegories wanted to celebrate the Bourbon house but at the same time re-proposed the thought of Freemasonry. In the center of the room are a brass barometer and telescope, by John Dollond, and a pair of globes, one terrestrial, the other celestial, by Didier Robert de Vaugondy: numerous cartographies of the latter are also preserved. In the room there is also a shelf in the shape of an octagonal pyramid

Royal Nativity Scene

(Presepe Reale)

The last room of the Library leads to the Elliptical Room: originally used as a domestic theater for the princes, it has no decoration. Inside, in 1988, the Royal Nativity Scene was set up: this was prepared for the first time in 1844 by Giovanni Cobianchi in the Sala della Racchetta. The crib was portrayed in some paintings made by Salvatore Fregola and exhibited in the room: it was thanks to these paintings that it was possible to reconstruct the scene similar to the original one, even if many pieces have been lost. In addition to the classic nativity scene and the tavern, there are the Georgian caravan and numerous figures from the popular and peasant world; the shepherds are the work of Nicola Somma, Francesco Gallo, Salvatore Franco, Lorenzo Mosca, Giuseppe Gori and Francesco and Camillo Celebrano

Picture Gallery: the First Hall

(Pinacoteca: la Prima Sala)

The first room houses works by Elisabetta Farnese, inherited from her son Carlo di Borbone: the paintings have battle scenes, by Ilario Spolverini, and Fasti Farnese as their theme.

Picture Gallery: the room of King Charles of Bourbon

(Pinacoteca: la sala di Re Carlo di Borbone)

The room dedicated to King Charles of Bourbon follows: there are portraits of the sovereign, his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony and their children, all made by Giuseppe Bonito

Pinacoteca: the Bourbon of Naples Hall

(Pinacoteca: la sala Borbone di Napoli)

In the Bourbon of Naples Spain and France hall, works are exhibited that enhance the family ties between the Bourbons of Naples and the various families of Europe, as happened with the marriages of Ferdinand I with Maria Carolina of Austria and that of Francesco I with the infant of Spain Maria Isabella

Picture Gallery: the Second Room

(Pinacoteca: la Seconda Sala)

In the next room there are nine ovals with the subject of the family of Francesco I, by Giuseppe Cammarano from 1820, and other portraits of the family of Ferdinando II with his first wife Maria Cristina of Savoy

Picture Gallery: the Painting Room

(Pinacoteca: la Sala della Pittura)

The Hall of Genre Painting collects works by various artists called to Naples by Queen Maria Carolina: Canettieri del Re, by Martin Ferdinand Quadal, Marina di Sorrento, Mola di Gaeta and Mola di Castellammare di Stabia, by Antonio Joli, Anatra, by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, Elefante, by Pellegrino Ronchi, and Cane di Francesco, by anonymous.

Picture Gallery: the Hall of Allegories

(Pinacoteca: la Sala delle Allegorie)

In the Hall of Allegories there are paintings commissioned to artists of the eighteenth century, which were then to serve as a model for the tapestries, with the theme that of the allegories of the virtues: Allegory of Peace and Justice that bring Abundance, by Giuseppe Bonito, Allegory of Peace and of Friendship, by Stefano Pozzi, Allegory of Religion, by Pompeo Batoni, and Allegory of Fortress and Vigilance, by Corrado Giaquinto

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