Royal Palace of Caserta, after 90 years the Muses Thalia and Melpomene return

After 90 years the Muses return to the Royal Palace of Caserta. The statues of Thalia, muse of Comedy, and Melpomene, muse of Tragedy, following teamwork between institutions of the MiC, have returned to the Royal Palace of Caserta.

The Museum's detailed request, accompanied by a reasoned historical-artistic report, allowed us to share with the various Directorates the opportunity to return the assets to the museum itinerary of the Vanvitelli Complex.

The statues were positioned in the spaces of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Naples. The first sculpture dates back to the 1nd century AD, 70 m high with a plinth. The girl, holding a rod, rests her right hand on a small pillar at the end of which is a theatrical mask. She wears a thin chiton, a tunic commonly used in ancient Greece, of Hellenistic style, and a large himation, a cloth placed on the ancient left arm and light sandals on her feet.

The right arm is a modern-era insert. The second sculpture, 1.78 m tall with its plinth, wears a long stole covered by a cloak that wraps around the left foot and reveals the right foot, wearing an elegant sandal. The main body is part of a Roman work from the XNUMXnd century AD. Both arms were reconstructed: the right arm with the hand holding a dagger; the left, now severed, with the hand holding a mask.

The heads are modern, likely by the same sculptor. The statue of Thalia is documented in the Farnese Inventory of 1772, which states that it was located in the Gardens of Campo Vaccino on the Palatine Hill. The muses, part of the Farnese collection inherited by Charles of Bourbon from his mother, Elizabeth, were transferred to the Royal Palace of Caserta at the request of Queen Maria Carolina in October 1788.

Restored and integrated with modern parts, they had left the Royal Porcelain Factory of Naples where they had arrived from Villa Madama in Rome.

A year earlier, King Ferdinand IV had left Naples for refuge in Palermo. The sovereign had the queen consort's books and many works of art from the Farnese collection loaded onto ships. The two statues were therefore likely transported from Caserta to Naples and then brought to Palermo.

Upon their return to the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the two sculptures were restored by Angelo Solari and returned to their original location in the Palatina Library, as recorded in the 1830 Inventory of the Royal Palace of Caserta. In 1933, the two muses were brought to Naples to be placed in the offices of the Superintendency, thus breaking the strong bond with the place for which Maria Carolina had intended them.

The queen, in fact, desired to create for her private library, the Temple of Knowledge, a cultured and refined space, oriented towards a taste for the ancient and the influences of classical culture. Specifically chosen by the sovereign, they fit perfectly into the neoclassical decorative scheme she envisioned. In recent years, the Royal Palace of Caserta has undertaken studies and research aimed at restoring the due recognition and original identity of the vast heritage of the Vanvitellian complex.

In line with this management strategy aimed at expanding the museum's offering and enriching the knowledge experience of various audiences, its restitution was therefore requested.

Thalia and Melpomene have just returned to the Royal Palace of Caserta. After cleaning and the creation of their bases, modeled after the originals described in the Annotations, they will be displayed again in the location chosen for them by Queen Maria Carolina: the third room of the Palatine Library. Visitors will be able to enjoy the beauty of the two muses and relive the cultural spirit of the time.