Palazzo Madama Turin, Guala Bicchieri's hood rediscovers five enamels from its original decoration

Thanks to the generosity of 742 donors, Palazzo Madama-Turin’s Museo Civico d’Arte Antica has surpassed the goal of 50,000 euros in its crowdfunding campaign, launched from March 28 to Dec. 31, 2024, to acquire five precious Limoges enamel ornaments from the hood of Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, one of the identifying masterpieces of the museum’s collection.

These ornaments, decorated with floral motifs in champlevé enamel, originally decorated the medieval hood of Vercelli cardinal Guala Bicchieri. Cardinal Bicchieri’s hood, made of wood and decorated with enamels and goldwork, is one of the most important examples of medieval art and is unique in the history of Limoges art. Originally embellished with forty medallions and numerous decorative elements in embossed copper and champlevé enamel, the hood has seen the loss of several components during its long and troubled past.

The five recently acquired fragments had likely been stolen in the late eighteenth century during the period of the Napoleonic wars, when the hood was kept in the church of Sant’Andrea in Vercelli, and had subsequently entered the collection of Le Mans industrialist Jules Chappée, only to be dispersed and finally reach a Parisian antiquarian who had now offered them for sale.

With the purchase of these fragments, the museum has taken another important step in restoring some of its original decoration to the hood. They will be relocated to the back of the work, currently devoid of these decorations.

The crowdfunding campaign was inaugurated by the generous donation of Sir Paul Ruddock, a great collector of medieval art, and ended with the crucial support of the Fondazione CRT, a longtime supporter of Palazzo Madama’s projects. Throughout the course of 2024, Palazzo Madama organized an intensive outreach program with meetings, lectures, workshops, guided tours, and debates that took place not only in the museum but in various venues throughout the Piedmont region. The result was achieved through the online crowdfunding platform Rete del Dono, which enabled a large number of donors-individuals, groups, families, foundations, and associations-to participate in the initiative.

In spring 2025, Palazzo Madama will offer all donors the opportunity to preview the newly acquired enamels in a confidential and exclusive museum presentation.

“The success of this campaign is a moving and deeply meaningful testament to the strength and commitment of the community that supports Palazzo Madama and the Civic Museums of Turin,” said Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, director of Palazzo Madama. “Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of donors, we are not only adding essential parts to the so-called ’Guala Bicchieri coffin,’ but we are once again bringing attention to a fundamental moment in the history and making of Europe through the medium of one of its great protagonists. Sincere gratitude is expressed for the very large number of people who were willing to take the time to contribute to this important project, giving meaning to the concept of active citizenship and memory.”

“The five enamels we will now be able to acquire considered by themselves are simple fragments of the fine art of Limoges in the thirteenth century, but their importance lies in belonging to a masterpiece, to which we can now reunite them. Their repositioning on the hood, more than two hundred years later, is an important philological operation that will make it possible-as happens in painting when a lost predella returns next to the panel with which it was associated-to admire the hood complete with some of its missing parts, just as it must have appeared to Guala Bicchieri in 1220,” says Simonetta Castronovo, conservator of Palazzo Madama, who has already been the protagonist of the study and acquisition of the cardinal’s hood by the City of Turin and the Piedmont Region in 2004.

Palazzo Madama Turin, Guala Bicchieri's hood rediscovers five enamels from its original decoration

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.