Images of Savoyard Residences
by Luciana Manzo

Immortalised by the burin of illustrious engravers and extolled by the pens of scholars and erudite men of letters, the palaces of 'delights' built during the Baroque period in the countryside surrounding Turin mark the highest point in the project that re-shaped Turin as capital city of the Duchy of Savoy. The utmost in luxury and magnificence, these buildings served to gather the nobility together in a context of exceptional beauty and to demonstrate the power of the monarch with their splendour.
The most important ducal architects were called one after the other to design them, from Vitozzi to the Castellamontes, from Garove to Guarini, to Juvarra, to mention only the most famous. And what is more, if the buildings themselves, with their decorations and furnishings, were important, the role played by the natural context in which they were sited and the relationship established with nature - subjecting and shaping it in a game of flower beds, hedges, trees, flowers, fountains, steps and streams - counted for even more.
The documents exhibited here narrate these residences just as they were described and represented in the period of their maximum splendour.
First and foremost is the testimony presented by the Theatrum Sabaudiae, a publishing feat without precedent that saw the light in 1682 in Amsterdam from the presses of the publisher Blaeu. Its engraved plates describe in minute detail the towns, villages and buildings of the Duchy of Savoy, reproducing what had been realised and what was still only in the planning stage. The images in this extraordinary promotion of the States of the Dukes of Savoy at European courts were accompanied by texts that extolled all these places and buildings. At the end of the introductory note to the capital of the Duchy, the author adds: "But the sovereigns were not content merely with embellishing the interior of the City, and enriched it in many different ways also externally… The majestic Palace of the Savoyard princes, called 'the Valentino', rises on the banks of the Po and is placidly lapped by its waters. The place in which it stands is truly marvellous." This was the favourite residence of Christine of France, built by Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte, and was a stage for receptions, tournaments, and river battles staged by Filippo d'Agliè, a gentleman of sophisticated culture and the ever present minister and councillor of the first Royal Lady. Among other things exalting Turin's excellent geographic position is the hill that rises not far from the City. "It has no rocks that render it inaccessible, nor woods to prevent cultivation, nor a harsh climate to make it inhospitable; on the contrary, the land is fertile and populated with villas, the slopes of the hills are gentle and the hollows of the valleys most pleasant… But among the houses that catch the eye here and there, the Vigna of Her Serene Highness Ludovica of Savoy is immediately noticed for its size by the person looking at the hill from the City." It was built by Cardinal Maurizio, a cultured patron connected more to Rome than to Turin, who founded the Accademia dei Solinghi. On his death, his young widow Ludovica had the garden to the south of the building laid out and filled with trees, the most spectacular part of the villa. On becoming the favourite residence of Anne of Orleans and Marie Antoine of Bourbon, it consequently acquired the name of Villa della Regina [Queen's Villa].
Magnificent but vulnerable, several of these residences had an extremely short life, either because they were seriously damaged during the two sieges that brought the city and its inhabitants to their knees in 1640 and 1706, or because they fell from the reigning sovereign's favour. This happened to the castle of Mirafiori, built under Charles Emmanuel I, "where nature has obliged art to make itself ingenious and art has bent nature to the laws of elegance".
During the siege of 1706, Viboccone was irretrievably damaged. This was the preferred hunting lodge of Emmanuel Philibert and surrounded by the Regio Parco that inspired the poet Torquato Tasso's gardens of Armida.
"Of all the marvellous pleasure residences that His Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy is accustomed to going to in order to recover from his labours, the most important and worthy of being visited is called Venaria Reale." Made up of the village, the Royal Palace of Diana and the gardens, and commissioned by Charles Emmanuel II in 1659, the complex was realised first of all by Amedeo di Castellamonte and then by Michelangelo Garove, Filippo Juvarra and Benedetto Alfieri.
The castle of Rivoli would have been equally splendid if Juvarra's project for it had been completed. Sited in a strategic position commanding spectacular views, it was built on a pre-existing castle dating from the 12th century that had been transformed from the 16th century into a court residence.
Better luck was had with Juvarra's plans for the Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi. Building was decreed in 1729 by Victor Amadeus II, although work continued until the end of the 18th century.
Christine of France entrusted the work of transforming an old fortress that dominated Moncalieri to Andrea Costaguta, who was succeeded by Amedeo di Castellamonte. It was a favourite residence of the House of Savoy and a stage for both happy and unhappy events. It was often used by Victor Emmanuel II in the 19th century.
The last of these pleasure residences to be abandoned by the Savoy was the castle of Racconigi. Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy-Carignano commissioned Guarino Guarini to rebuild an older dwelling, while the project for the park was entrusted to André le Nôtre who realised magnificent French-style gardens. Transformations and various interventions followed during the 18th century, when the park was redesigned according to the English style, and also in the 19th, when Pelagio Palagi made significant changes in the neo-Gothic taste.