The restoration work on the windows of Palazzo Cisterna, funded by the Metropolitan City of Turin, is underway at the ‘La Venaria Reale’ Restoration Conservation Centre: eighty artifacts of extraordinary workmanship that tell a story of over a century and a half.
These are window blinds, originally placed behind the palace windows. The first were built in 1867, on the occasion of the marriage between Maria Vittoria Dal Pozzo della Cisterna and Amedeo di Savoia, Duke of Aosta. Their importance for the family is proven in the will of Emanuele Filiberto, who arranges the sale of the furnishings, but not the windows.
Fire-painted on the inner side, they have different types of decorations – diamond motifs, grotesques and oriental decorations – and only specimens with central coats of arms bear dating and signatures.
During the Second World War, they were removed and kept in the cellars of the palace. Over time they have been reworked (cold interventions, touch-ups with black brushstrokes still visible) and only in 1940, when the palace became the seat of the Province of Turin, a decoration recalling the coat of arms of the province was added: a blue plate with three pendants.
Study and restoration activities
Today the conservative landscape is very uneven, with layers and overlapping materials that tell the different stages of life of the artifacts.
To safely manage and move the windows, the Centre has created custom-made racks, while the controlled cleaning phases take place on light panels both in transmitted light and in diffused light.
The activities are based on a methodological approach, based on study and research. After the preliminary investigations, the next steps include the launch of scientific analyses, aimed at identifying the constituent materials, pigments and any substances superimposed over time.
A project that is not limited to restoration, but aims to recompose the conservative history of the windows of Palazzo Cisterna, the ancient seat of the Metropolitan City of Turin involved in important restoration activities in collaboration with the Center, Consorzio San Luca and SECAP.
CCR and accessibility
