The FHS is planning a two-night, three-day Study Weekend to Turin, historic capital of the Kingdom of Savoy, and Italy’s first capital (1861-1865) following unification. Today it is the capital of the Northern region of Piedmont. Turin stands out for its Baroque architecture, owing largely to the work of Guarino Guarini (1624–83) and Filippo Juvarra (1678–1736) and its furniture by the court cabinetmakers, Pietro Pifetti (1701-1777) and Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (1745–1820).

The trip will start with a visit to the Palazzo Reale built in 1660 and now containing the silver treasury, the Royal Armoury of Turin designed by the Italian painter and interior designer Pelagio Palagi (1775-1860), and the Archaeological Museum and the dynastic paintings collection in the Galeria Sabauda. Also within the Palazzo is the famous Chapel of the Holy Shroud (Sacra Sindone) c.1690 and a royal library. Nearby is the Palazzo Madama, official royal residence of the two Madames Reali from 1640, and famous for its seventeenth- to nineteenth- century interiors including the royal apartment and Chinese cabinet of Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours (1644-1724) decorated in the high baroque style by the Guidobono brothers and the monumental entrance staircase designed by Juvarra. It is now Turin’s Museo Civico launched in 1863 as an arts and industry collection following London’s South Kensington initiative. It contains an excellent collection of decorative arts, particular famous for its ceramics. At Palazzo Carignano, which was designed by Guarini and has a series of very fine seventeenth-century rooms, we will see the Museum del Risorgimento, which will provide context for Italy’s recent history through objects and art. Around Turin we plan to include a visit to the royal hunting lodge, Palazzina Stupigni, built in 1729 and now home to an art and furniture museum, and Castello Racconigi started by Guarini in 1676 and completed from 1755 by Giambattista Borra who later worked in England. We are also hoping to include visits to private collections.

This trip is led by Adriana Turpin, BIFMO Project Manager and Grants Chair of the FHS.

To express interest, please contact the Overseas Events Manager overseasevents@furniturehistorysociety.org.

First floor Chinese Cabinet, Royal Palace of Turin, Northern Italy ©Ambra75 (WikiCommons)