Revelation at the Royal Palace of Naples: the throne under restoration is not Bourbon, but Savoy

The throne of the Royal Palace of Naples, until now catalogued as of Bourbon manufacture and dating back to 1845-50, was, in reality, commissioned by the Savoy and liquidated in 1874. A piece of news that delays its construction by 30 years, but that mainly rewrites the history of the throne, its origin and the chronology of the Palace. The announcement was made on the occasion of the presentation of the restoration at the Reggia di Venaria for a significant preview – from today until next autumn – of the 20th edition of one of the most important initiatives of the Intesa Sanpaolo Culture Project, which will be inaugurated at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome at the end of the summer. The throne will return to the Royal Palace of Naples in February 2026. On 12 September last year, the throne of the Royal Palace left for the Conservation and Restoration Centre La Venaria Reale in Turin for the restoration made possible thanks to the “Restituzioni” project of Intesa Sanpaolo and at the moment it has been replaced by an eighteenth-century Bourbon seat. “The attribution of the Throne of the Royal Palace of Naples to the Savoy era represents a discovery of great historical importance – commented the general director of Museums Massimo Osanna – which confirms how important Naples and its Palace were for the new sovereigns, a few years after the unification of the peninsula. Today the Royal Palace is at the center of a large transformation project, made possible thanks to the funds of the Great Cultural Heritage Project of the MIC, which will allow visitors to return to a museum path that is renewed and accessible to all audiences. Our places of culture are no longer just spaces for conservation and enjoyment, but are increasingly configured as laboratories for research and innovation. Thanks to the daily work of cultural heritage professionals, we are now able to integrate documentary research, restoration interventions and enhancement projects, also through virtuous collaborations between public institutions and private entities, as demonstrated by the successful experience with the Reggia di Venaria, the Conservation and Restoration Center and Intesa Sanpaolo”. During these eight months of work, studies and research have been started that have revealed a different dating from the one known until now. The existence of a dense correspondence has emerged regarding the modernization of the Throne Room desired by the House of Savoy, but the document revealing the new dating is the invoice presented by the carver Luigi Ottajano, attesting to the execution of the entire throne (“a rich throne chair carved and gilded in the Empire style”) and other installations for the renovation of the Room. (Correspondence of 1874). “The document was found at the State Archives of Naples by the scholar Carmine Napoli, now a former official, whom we thank for the sensational discovery – declared the architect Paola Ricciardi, delegated manager of the Royal Palace of Naples – In-depth news from colleagues who conducted the study of the parallel documentation preserved at the State Archives of Naples from which the material comes”. Ottajano, who together with Domenico Morelli created the cradle for the birth of Vittorio Emanuele III, donated by the city of Naples to Queen Margherita and now exhibited at the Royal Palace of Caserta, had until now been attributed, as a later addition, only the crowning with the eagle with a crossed shield on the chest, emblem of the new reigning house, while the chair was believed to be from the Bourbon era. The decision to equip the Neapolitan Royal Palace with a throne made from scratch is indicative of the importance that the new dynasty attributed to the monumental complex and to the city previously capital of the Bourbon Kingdom. The throne, with a drum-shaped seat, features Empire style elements that hark back to the craftsmanship of the Restoration, such as the armrests decorated with winged lions of great sculptural effect. The octagonal-shaped back is adorned with classicizing studs and rosettes that appear, for example, in the throne of Napoleon I, designed by Charles Percier and Pierre-François Fontaine (now in the Louvre).