Royal baby prams pushed by
servants, luxurious carriages for children drawn by ponies or
baby goats and an endless collection of nineteenth-century
ceramics will from Tuesday be open to the public at the Quirinal
Palace.
Splendid halls filled with tapestry collections, gigantic
chandeliers of Murano glass, frescoes, period clocks and much
else will be shown on guided visits through a palace that was
once that of popes and now houses the president.
The aim is not only to inform from a historic-artistic point
of view. It is meant as a journey inside art as well as a
glimpse inside a part of Italian history and a way to understand
better the functioning of one of the most important political
institutions designed by the country's founding fathers.
"The Quirinal is a live, vital palace for our democracy, a
protagonist today like it was yesterday of the country's
history, and as such fully deserves the name of the Home of
Italians," said President Sergio Mattarella in a message on a
new interactive site that makes it possible to get a virtual
preview of what the actual visit is like.
In some of the spaces that are no longer used as offices,
there is an exhibition on the history of the palace in his
historical-political development, with rooms that describe the
residency of the popes, the Savoys and the twelve presidents of
the republic. All is accompanied by books, previously exhibited
documents and the original text of the constitution.
However, it is the entire building that that takes in air
and puts on flesh, showing parts of itself through a route that
brings visitors from the ancient stables on the ground floor to
the piano nobile through four acres of splendid gardens and its
fountains.
It would be impossible to list all the names of the halls
crossed, but one cannot but point out the Paolina Chapel, where
chamber music concerts are now held; the president's study,
where he receives political representatives during consultations
for the new government; the Napoleonico hall, decorated in a
much more modern manner; the Biblioteca del Piffetti, a Savoy
gem of a library; the Passaggetto di Urbano VIII, intricately
decorated with eighteenth-century frescoes; and the circular
sixteenth-century staircase of the Mascherino.
Manifold other items of interest will be on display as
well, such as Queen Margherita's ballroom dress, sewn in the
second half of the nineteenth century and embroidered in silver
and crystals on silk, and an elegant dessert set said to be of
"Umberto I". There is also a reconstruction - made possible by
the details of a painting, of the furniture of a room used for
the 1879 meeting between Garibaldi e Vittorio Emanuele.
The 'Vasella del Quirinale' is striking, where porcelain,
silver and crystal objects are gathered. The crockery is unique
a collection of 38,000 pieces of the main European manufacturers
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The visit ends with the papal stables, where over a hundred
carriages including "antique Savoy sedan cars for grand galas".
They include the "carriage for the betrothed", "the Telemachus
carriage" and the unique "Egyptian" one, a model with depictions
of the goddess Isis, very popular in the early nineteenth
century. It was later painted black and used as a funeral car
for the body of Carlo Alberto.
Visits will be possible everyday except Monday and
Thursday, but only via reservation with volunteer staff. There
will be guided tours for groups of up to 30 people.
The shortest route of about an hour and a half will be
almost free of charge, as only the reservation fee will be due,
while the longer and more thorough route will cost 10 euros.
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