The collection of Queen Margherita of Savoy from the Royal Palace of Naples to Trani. From the Neapolitan deposits to the Swabian Castle of Trani, the works are once again accessible thanks to the project of the General Directorate of Museums.
The collection of Queen Margherita of Savoy, currently kept in the storage rooms of the Royal Palace of Naples, becomes accessible to the public, starting today and for the next three years, in a new and evocative installation located in the Casemates on the second floor of the Swabian Castle of Trani, which for the occasion is also extending its opening hours to the public.
Following the success of the project “100 works return home”, curated by the Directorate General of Museums directed by Prof. Massimo Osanna and the Cabinet Office of the Minister of Culture, with the support of the former advisor to the Minister, Dr. Caterina Bon di Valsassina, this exhibition represents a new phase, aimed at bringing to light, even in new museum contexts, works kept inside the deposits, in order to better valorize the extraordinary Italian cultural heritage.
“100 works is fully in line with the philosophy of the General Directorate of Museums – underlines Prof. Massimo Osanna – which has always aimed at enhancing the value of the deposits so that the extraordinary heritage held there is returned to the public. The exhibition that will give new life to the Trani Castle is one of the many initiatives promoted to strengthen the network of Italian museums, as foreseen by the National Museum System, as part of a long-term project that aims to raise awareness of the immense cultural heritage owned by the State”.
The project draws inspiration from the connections between the Apulian territory and the figure of the queen consort, to whom the nearby town of Margherita di Savoia (formerly Saline di Barletta) dedicated the new toponym starting from 1879 and in function of the close bond that the sovereign had with Apulia.
The installation was promoted and financed by the General Directorate of Museums and was created thanks to the collaboration between the Regional Directorate of Museums of Puglia directed by Dr. Luca Mercuri and the Royal Palace of Naples, directed by Dr. Mario Epifani. The initiative also received the support of Molino Casillo Group.
“I am very proud of this initiative for several reasons. – comments Dr. Luca Mercuri – first of all because it is another important brick in the construction of a larger project, of extraordinary value, conducted by the Directorate General of Museums and committed throughout Italy to the valorization of the works preserved in the deposits that are increasingly coming to light. A second reason for satisfaction is the great teamwork and cooperation, which has given life to this innovation, both between different subjects of the Ministry, and with private subjects. Last but not least, this initiative is a new element of valorizationand relaunch of Trani Castle, which for the occasion extends its opening hours to the public".
Most of the works are the result of purchases by Queen Margherita at the Biennial and Triennial Exhibitions and are therefore configured as a range of the artistic choices of the Royal House in the years between the 19th and 20th centuries. The arrival of the works in Naples, two years after the death of the queen, was greeted by the local press as "A conspicuous gift to the city of Naples", the birthplace of King Vittorio Emanuele III, to form the initial nucleus of a Gallery of Modern Art in the city.
“The possibility of exhibiting Queen Margherita's collection – explains the director Mario Epifani – represents an important opportunity for the Royal Palace of Naples, which has recently begun a general review of its historical display in a philological sense. The collection, assembled almost a century ago in Naples, was the subject of research and restoration on the occasion of the 2004 exhibition. In recent years it has been kept in our storage rooms and today, thanks to this project and the work of our restorers and art historians, it is once again accessible in its entirety, restoring integrity and visibility to a collection that represents Italian artistic trends between the 800th and 900th centuries as well as the Queen's taste”.
The project comes at a time when attention towards Queen Margherita is particularly high: at Palazzo Madama, on 13 October the exhibition “Margherita di Savoia, Regina d'Italia” will be inaugurated and will be open until January 2023. Two works on loan from Palazzo Reale in Turin will subsequently be transferred to Trani, confirming the breadth of the project from North to South, involving five museums in this “journey” through history. Of the 29 works in the collection, in addition to those kept at Palazzo Reale and the two paintings on loan at Palazzo Madama, the exhibition will arrive in
Among other pieces from the same collection, namely a terracotta work will come from the Royal Palace of Caserta and three paintings from the MART in Rovereto. The collection will thus be reunited for the first time in a long-term exhibition.
In 1928, 39 paintings, 7 bronzes, two marble sculptures and a terracotta arrived at the Royal Palace of Naples, inventoried in a document bearing the wording: List of works of art that leave Palazzo Margherita for Naples, dated 2 April 1928. These are “modern” works, by authors whose biography does not begin before 1840 and of various origins: Milanese, Venetian, Turin, Roman, with only three paintings of the Neapolitan school; some foreigners such as the Spaniard Villegas, the German Von Bartels, Alfred Smith, of French birth and the American Richard Miller.
Compared to the inventory today, 39 of 29 works are preserved, since the bronzes and a marble sculpture have been lost.
In December 2004 the collection was exhibited in the Salone d'Ercole of the Royal Palace of Naples in an exhibition entitled “The Inventory of Queen Margherita of Savoy” and subsequently kept in storage.
Article published on 13 October 2022 - 18:22
