A Jacobite Gazetteer - Turin

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

For the Appartamento di Madama Felicita, see Piano Terreno.

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

On the Secondo Piano Nobile are several apartments which are occasionally open with a guided tour. The tour begins on the Primo Piano Nobile in the “Salone della Guardia Svizzera“ from which one climbs the staircase to the second floor.

This apartment was decorated between 1747 and 1750 for the parents of King Charles IV and King Victor when Victor Amadeus III was heir to the Sardinian throne and Duke of Savoy. At that time it was called the “Appartamento dei Duchi di Savoia”. It was later used as the apartment of King Charles IV, when Prince of Piedmont, and his wife Marie Clotilde. In the twentieth century it was used by King Umberto II of Italy when Prince of Piedmont, and hence is now called the “Appartamento dei Principi di Piemonte”.

After passing through the “Anticamera delle Guardie del corpo“ (with red silk walls), one enters the “Anticamera dei Vallet á pied“ (with rose silk walls). Above one of the doors is a painting of the marriage of Princess Adelaide of Savoy to the Duke of Burgundy. It is based on the painting by Antoine Dieu which hangs in one of the rooms of the Aile nord at the Palais de Versailles. The version here does not include any of the actual wedding guests (including King James II and VII), but instead has mythological creatures surrounding the couple. The two images of the Duke of Burgundy are virtually identical, but the images of Princess Adelaide are quite different.

Wedding of Princess Adelaide of Savoy

The next room (with red silk walls) is the “Anticamera dei Paggi“; here are displayed a number of Savoy portraits. On the wall hang two oval portraits of the parents of King Charles IV and King Victor on either side of a glass mirror above the fireplace.

The Parents of King Charles IV and King Victor

The tour turns to the left into the “Camera di Udienza“. On the short wall opposite the windows hangs, over a mirror, an oval portrait of King Charles Emanuel III of Sardinia, the grandfather of King Charles IV and King Victor. To either side of the mirror are oval portraits of their sister, Princess Maria Guiseppina and her husband, the comte de Provence (later King Louis XVIII of France).

The Grandfather, Sister, and Brother-in-law of King Charles IV and King Victor

On the long wall to the right, between two large tapestries, hangs over a mirror an oval portrait of Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia, the mother of King Charles IV and King Victor.

Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia, Mother of King Charles IV and King Victor

On the long wall to the left, between two large tapestries, hangs over a mirror an oval portrait of Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg, the paternal grandmother of King Charles IV and King Victor.

Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg, Grandmother of King Charles IV and King Victor

After passing through the “Piccola Galleria“, one enters the “Appartamento dei Duchi d'Aosta“, which was decorated in 1788 and 1789 for the Duke of Aosta and his wife (later King Victor and Queen Maria Teresa). In the first room, the “Camera di Parata del Duca d'Aosta“, hangs, over a mirror and above a fireplace, an oval portrait of the mother of King Charles IV and King Victor, Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia, wearing a blue dress. On either side of the mirror hang small oval bas-relief busts of the grandfather and father of King Charles IV and King Victor, King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia.

The Camera di Parata del Duca d'Aosta

The next room is the “Camera di Udienza del Duca d'Aosta“. On the far wall over a mirror above a fire-place, hangs an oval portrait of Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia.

Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia in the Camera di Udienza del Duca d'Aosta

In the “Sala del Ballo” (Ball Room) there are portraits of the parents of Charles IV and Victor hanging over mirrors; there are similar portraits in the “Sala d'Angolo presso il Terrazzo”. In the Sala dell'Udienze (Audience Hall) hangs an oval oil portrait of Queen Maria Theresa (wife of King Victor) when still Duchess of Aosta.¹ Maria Theresa is seated at a desk reading a letter from her mother Duchess Maria Beatrice Ricciarda of Modena.

Audience Hall of the Prince of Piedmont

In the “Camera da letto di parata” of the Duchess of Aosta hangs another oil portrait of Queen Maria Theresa, this one by Giovanni Panealbo.² Maria Theresa has feathers in her hair, and holds a toy in her hand.

In the “Camera del Letto della Duchessa di Savoia” (now called the “Camera dei Putti” on account of the ceiling freschi) hangs a portrait of the mother of King Charles IV and King Victor, Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia.³ The oval portrait hangs over a glass mirrored wall above a fireplace on the east wall. It is normally ascribed to Giovanni Panealbo.

Queen Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Sardinia

On the opposite wall of the “Camera dei Putti” hangs a matching portrait, also ascribed to Giovanni Panealbo, of the father of King Charles IV and King Victor, King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia.⁴

King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia

On the north wall of the “Camera dei Putti” hangs a full-length portrait of the grandfather of King Charles IV and King Victor, King Charles Emanuel III of Sardinia.³

King Charles Emanuel III of Sardinia

Here is displayed a large group portrait of the family of Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy (later King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia); the work dates from 1760 and is attributed to Giuseppe Duprà.¹¹ At the centre of the painting, climbing the stairs, can be seen the nine-year-old future Charles IV. He wears an armoured breastplate over a gold and blue coat. To his left is his infant brother Victor who wears a baby's bonnet and a gold and blue shawl; he holds an arrow in his right hand. Charles reaches out his hand to his father Victor Amadeus who wears a metal breastplate over a gold coat; wrapped around his shoulders is a great red cloak with ermine lining. He points to an obelisk decorated with a carved relief showing two putti, one holding the arms of the House of Savoy and the other holding two olive branches, the symbol of peace. Next to Victor Amadeus is his wife Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain; she wears a blue gown and a red cloak with ermine lining. With each of her hands she points towards her two sons. At the far left of the painting are Charles and Victor's sisters, Maria Giuseppina and Maria Theresa. Behind Victor is another sister Maria Anna.

Family of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia including King Charles IV and King Victor as boys

This page is maintained by Noel S. McFerran (noel.mcferran@rogers.com) and was last updated June 11, 2021.
© Noel S. McFerran 2006-2021.