Palazzo Madama
Palazzo Madama
This marvellous Palazzo which first housed the Subalpine Senate in 1848 and then, as of 1861, was the Chamber for the first Senate of the Kingdom of Italy, will be gaining two important new features for the 150th of the Unification: the reconstructing on the piano nobile of the ‘cavea’ where the High Chamber would meet and the setting up of the Interpretation Centre of the new MuseoTorino in the medieval Court on the ground floor.
In 1638, the duchess Christine of France was the first Madame Royale to take up establishment in this palazzo that had originally been built as a city gate in the Roman era and later transformed in the medieval period into a castle. In the 1700s, Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours commissioned Juvarra to restore the building, resulting in the spectacular baroque frontage. Carlo Alberto used the Palazzo for housing the Pinacoteca Regia and then, from 1848 until 1864, for the Senate of the Kingdom and then lastly, for the Court of Cassation. Palazzo Madama now houses the Civic Museum of Ancient Art.
In the medieval Court on the ground floor, MuseoTorino will be opening in March 2011 with Torino: storia di una città. A magnificent multimedia installation will enable visitors to see the various places in contemporary Turin and take a journey through time to see the birth and evolution of the city, from before it existed to the present date. MuseoTorino is an innovative project, unique to Italy, for a museum on the city’s history. A museum – both real and virtual – created in order for Turin to be known, understood and loved by its denizens and its guests.
From March to December 2011, the large room on the piano nobile will be seen as it was in the 19th century, having carefully reconstructed the large wooden amphitheatre made for the sessions of the High Chamber by the architect Ernesto Melano. Visitors can sit in the ‘cavea’ (gallery), among the spectacular backcloths that reproduce the original decorations and furnishings, and listen to the multimedia report about the leading figures and the debates that marked the forming of the Italian State. The project has been produced by the Fondazione Torino Musei in collaboration with the scenery makers of the Teatro Regio.
