It was held today at Royal Palace of Naples the presentation of the throne, which was the subject of an important intervention at the ‘La Venaria Reale’ Conservation Restoration Centre, thanks to the support of Intesa Sanpaolo, which allocated the work to the 20th edition of Refunds: the program to support the protection and enhancement of the historical and artistic heritage of the country.
To present the work carried out, Michela Cardinali, Director of the Restoration Laboratories and of the Centre’s School of Advanced Training, who illustrated the activities carried out within the two laboratories involved: that of Wooden Furniture and that of Textile Manufactures, supported by specific scientific analyses, including complete digital X-rays.
Particularly complex was the selective cleaning of the gilding without the use of aggressive chemical agents, carried out with LASER technologies and with a sustainable and eco-friendly approach that the JRC has been looking at for some time.
The restoration
The extraordinary furniture is thus shown to the public completely renovated in the textile part and in the trimmings and restored in the carved and gilded wooden structure. Much of the surface cleaning was carried out through the use of lasers, which allowed the thin golden metal sheet to regain a lost and unexpected brightness, which was followed by a long consolidation of the decoded areas and a careful chromatic rebalancing to ensure full aesthetic enjoyment.
At the same time, careful documentary archival research was undertaken by the officials of the Royal Palace of Naples, which led to a certain attribution of the artifact to Neapolitan manufacture with a new date for its construction in 1874. The throne, believed until now Bourbon was actually commissioned by the Savoy as an explicit declaration of intent that Naples should be considered a capital of the United Kingdom.
From 13 May to 12 October 2025 it was held at the Royal Palace of Venaria a preview of the presentation of the restoration and the presentation of the precious ceremonial session.
CCR and accessibility
