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'''Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja''' is a palace in [[Turin]], northern [[Italy]]. It was the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom, and takes its traditional name from the embellishments it received under two queens (''madama'') of the [[House of Savoy]]. |
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'''Palazzo Madama e Casaforte degli Acaja''' is a palace in [[Turin]], northern [[Italy]]. It was the first Senate of the Italian Kingdom, and takes its traditional name from the embellishments it received under two queens (''madama'') of the [[House of Savoy]]. |
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==History== |
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==History |
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[[Image:Casaforte degli Acaja Torino.JPG|thumb|250px|The rear area, still bearing the 15th-century appearance of a castle.]] |
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[[Image:Casaforte degli Acaja Torino.JPG|thumb|250px|The rear area, still bearing the 15th-century appearance of a castle.]] |
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At the beginning of the first century BC, the site of the palace was occupied by a gate in the Roman walls from which the ''[[Decumanus Maximus|decumanus]] maximus'' of ''Augusta Taurinorum'' (the ancient name of Turin) departed. Two of the towers, although restored, still testify to this original nucleus. After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the gate was used as a fortified stronghold in the defences of the city. |
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At the beginning of the first century BC, the site of the palace was occupies by a gate in the Roman walls from which the ''[[Decumanus Maximus|decumanus]] maximus'' of ''Augusta Taurinorum'' (the ancient name of Turin) departed. Two of the towers, although restored, still testify to this original nucleus. After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the gate was used as a fortified stronghold in the defences of the city. |
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[[Image:ScaviRomaniPalazzoMadamaTorino.JPG|thumb|left|220px|Stone piers atop brick footings stand out of the excavated Roman stratum.]] |
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[[Image:ScaviRomaniPalazzoMadamaTorino.JPG|thumb|left|220px|Stone piers atop brick footings stand out of the excavated Roman stratum.]] |
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Later the building became a possession of the Savoia-Acaja, a secondary branch of the [[House of Savoy]]; in the early 14th century, they enlarged it into a [[castle]]. A century later Ludovico of Acaja rebuilt it in square shape, with an inner court and a [[portico]], and four cylindrical towers at each corner. The form of this edifice is still clearly recognizable from the back section of the palace. After the extinction of the Acajas, the edifice became a residence for guests of the [[house of Savoy]]. |
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Later the building became a possession of the Savoia-Acaja, a secondary branch of the [[House of Savoy]]; in the early 14th century, they enlarged it into a [[castle]]. A century later Ludovico of Acaja rebuilt it in square shape, with an inner court and a [[portico]], and four cylindrical towers at each corner. The form of this edifice is still clearly recognizable from the back section of the palace. After the extinction of the Acajas, the edifice became a residence for guests of the [[house of Savoy]]. |
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[[File:Domenico Guidobono - Triumph of virtue of Madama Reale.jpg|thumb|290px|''Triumph of virtue of Madama Reale'' by [[Domenico Guidobono]] in the Palazzo Madama]] |
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[[File:Domenico Guidobono - Triumph of virtue of Madama Reale.jpg|thumb|290px|''Triumph of virtue of Madama Reale'' by [[Domenico Guidobono]] in the Palazzo Madama very stupid]] |
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In 1637 the regent for Duke [[Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy|Charles Emmanuel II]], [[Christine Marie of France]], chose it as her personal residence. She commissioned the covering of the court and a revamping of the inner apartments. Sixty years later another regent, [[Marie Jeanne of Savoy]], who was known as 'Madama Reale', lived in the palace. She conferred upon it definitively the nickname of ''Madama'' (Italian for ''Madame''). She invited many artists to renovate the building which the duchess wanted to turn into a sumptuous royal palace.<ref name=trec>[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/domenico-guidobono_(Dizionario-Biografico) Lucia Casellato, ''Guidobono, Domenico''], in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 61 (2004) {{link language|it|Italian}}</ref> The artist [[Domenico Guidobono]] became the undisputed protagonist of the decorations of the halls on the first floor of Palazzo Madama, known as the Guidobono halls – the Madama Reale’s Chamber, the Chinese Cabinet, and the Southern Veranda.<ref name=art>[http://www.culturaitalia.it/opencms/en/contenuti/eventi/The_Guidobono_brothers__the_refined_lightness_of_baroque.html?language=en The Guidobono brothers, the refined lightness of baroque]</ref> The duchess also asked architect [[Filippo Juvarra]] to design a new Baroque palace in white stone, but the works halted in 1721 after only the front section had been completed. |
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In 1637 the regent for Duke [[Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy|Charles Emmanuel II]], [[Christine Marie of France]], chose it as her personal residence. She commissioned the covering of the court and a revamping of the inner apartments. Sixty years later another regent, [[Marie Jeanne of Savoy]], who was known as 'Madama Reale', lived in the palace. She conferred upon it definitively the nickname of ''Madama'' (Italian for ''Madame''). She invited many artists to renovate the building which the duchess wanted to turn into a sumptuous royal palace.<ref name=trec>[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/domenico-guidobono_(Dizionario-Biografico) Lucia Casellato, ''Guidobono, Domenico''], in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 61 (2004) {{link language|it|Italian}}</ref> The artist [[Domenico Guidobono]] became the undisputed protagonist of the decorations of the halls on the first floor of Palazzo Madama, known as the Guidobono halls – the Madama Reale’s Chamber, the Chinese Cabinet, and the Southern Veranda.<ref name=art>[http://www.culturaitalia.it/opencms/en/contenuti/eventi/The_Guidobono_brothers__the_refined_lightness_of_baroque.html?language=en The Guidobono brothers, the refined lightness of baroque]</ref> The duchess also asked architect [[Filippo Juvarra]] to design a new Baroque palace in white stone, but the works halted in 1721 after only the front section had been completed. |