A Jacobite Gazetteer - Turin

Palazzo Reale - Piano Terreno

For the main state rooms of the palace, see the Primo Piano Nobile.

For the Secondo Piano Nobile, see here.

For items in other parts of the palace, see here.

Appartamento di Madama Felicita

The Appartamento di Madama Felicita is a suite of eleven rooms on the ground floor of the north side of the Palazzo Reale; it is occasionally open to the public. The suite is named after the aunt of King Charles IV and King Victor, Princess Felicita of Savoy (1730-1801). The suite is sometimes called the Appartamento della Regina, since Queen Elena, wife of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, lived there in the early twentieth century. There are numerous portraits of the Royal Family in these rooms.

In the Camera già da dormire (with red walls) there are three oval portraits by Giovanni Panealbo, all of which hang on top of mirrors:¹ Charles standing with a book written by François Fénelon;² his wife Clotilde; Maria Theresa, Duchess of Aosta (wife of King Victor). In the same room there is a square portrait of Charles as a child wearing a long gold dress; on either side are oval portraits of his parents by Panealbo. There are also portraits of his sisters Maria Theresa and Maria Anna both by Giuseppe Duprà.

In the “Gabinetto detto del terazzo” (also with red walls) is a portrait of another sister Maria Giuseppina; it is a copy of a work by Francesco Drouais.³ In the Camera ultima dell'appartamento (with yellow walls) are portraits of the parents of Charles and Victor as well as of their younger brother Maurizio, all by Domenico Duprà. There are also portraits of their sisters Maria Giuseppina and Maria Anna by Panealbo, and another portrait of Maria Giuseppina by Duprà.⁴

In the “Sala del Bagetti” is a portrait of a young Charles by Domenico Duprà; it was formerly identified as his younger brother Giuseppe.⁵ Charles is shown standing three-quarter length in a powdered wig. He wears a light coloured coat with large dark cuffs and a dark waistcoat; the cuffs, breast-panels, and waistcoat are trimmed with gold brocade. Around his neck he wears a black neckerchief tied at the back with a knot. From his shoulders hangs a light cape. In his right hand he grasps the barrel of a gun. His left hand rests on a table on which sits his hat. There is a copy of the portrait by Giuseppe Duprà owned by the Patrimonio Nacional in Madrid; it varies in a number of details of the wig, the clothing, and the placement of the left arm.

King Charles IV, when Prince of Piedmont, by Domenico Duprà

Notes

¹ Appartamento della Regina detto di "Madama Felicita", Torino - Palazzo Reale: Itinerario di visita per la settimana dei musei (Torino: Daniele Piazza, 1985), 32.

²Laureati and Trezzani, 187. There is a similar portrait in the Appartamento Napoleonico of the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome (but with a crown in place of the book). Giovanni Panealbo was a Turinese painter active from 1772 to 1799. He painted numerous portraits of members of the Royal Family; cf. Schede Vesme: L'arte in Piemonte dal XVI al XVIII secolo (Torino: Società Piemontese di Archeologia e Belle Arti, 1968), III, 772-775. There is another portrait of Charles by Panealbo at the Castello di Racconigi. François Fénelon (1651-1715) was Archbishop of Cambrai in France and the author of many works on the spiritual life.

³ Appartamento della Regina detto di "Madama Felicita", 28.

⁴ Appartamento della Regina detto di "Madama Felicita", 24.

⁵ Castelnuovo and Rosci, I, 6. The oil on canvas painting measures 64 cm high and 47 cm wide.

Image 1 (King Charles IV, when Prince of Piedmont, by Domenico Duprà): I, 6.