A major exhibition at Palazzo Madama featuring Christina of France and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy Nemours

From Dec. 20, 2018 to May 6, 2019, Palazzo Madama in Turin is staging the exhibition Madame royale: culture and power from Paris to Turin, which documents the lives and actions of two women who impressed a strong development in society and artistic culture in the Savoy state between 1600 and 1700: Christina of France (Paris, 1606 - Turin, 1663) and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy Nemours (Paris, 1644 - Turin, 1724). Two emblematic figures in European history, who exercised their power declined in the feminine to assert and defend their role and the autonomy of their state. The political actions and artistic commissions of the Madame Royals testify to the firm desire to make Turin a city of international standing, capable of dialoguing on a par with Madrid, Paris and Vienna.

With more than one hundred and twenty works, including paintings, objets d’art, furniture, textiles, jewelry, goldsmithing, ceramics, drawings and engravings, the exhibition chronologically traces the biography of the two Madame Royals and recounts the kinships that connected them to Europe’s major ruling houses, their political and cultural actions, artistic choices for their residences, lavish parties, fashion and religious devotion. The exhibition develops an itinerary through court life in the Baroque era, in the same environments in which the two ladies lived, documented not only in their political image, but also in their more intimate and feminine one.

The first section is devoted to Christina, or more precisely Chrestienne de France, daughter of the French King Henry IV of Bourbon and Marie de’ Medici, who arrived from Paris to Turin in 1619 at the age of thirteen, the bride of Victor Amadeus I of Savoy. She is introduced to the exhibition by a splendid series of portraits that constitute her family album: her parents, sovereigns of France; her brother Louis XIII, who ascended the throne in 1610 following the assassination of his father; and her sister Enrichetta Maria, queen ofEngland and bride of Charles I Stuart. The marriage strengthened the alliance between Piedmont and France, reinforcing the Savoy’s position among the Royal Houses of Europe. A lover of festivities, Christina preserved the Spanish tradition of the zapato, celebrated on St. Nicholas Day with the exchange of rich gifts, and inaugurated the court ballet season in Turin following the example of Paris. Author of many of the texts and choreography was Count Philip of Aglié, featured in the exhibition in a fine unpublished portrait, a refined courtier, her lover and faithful adviser. Christina had two out-of-town residences enlarged and furnished: the grandiose Valentino Castle on the Po and the Vigna in the hills (now known as Villa Abegg). Alongside Isidoro Bianchi’s playful putti, mottos, and eloquent emblems, nature was a ubiquitous theme: paintings of flowers and animals, leather wall hangings, embroidered flowers, and still lifes. Widowed in 1637, Christina assumed regency for her youngest son Charles Emmanuel and clashed with her brother-in-law Princes Maurice and Thomas of Savoy-Carignano, supporters of the Spanish. The civil war lasted until 1642, when the agreement between the duchess and her brothers-in-law was concluded with the marriage of her daughter Ludovica to her uncle, Cardinal Maurice. Christina managed to maintain the independence of the duchy and her own power, which she formally ceded to her son in 1648. In fact, however, she continued to rule until her death in 1663.

We then continue with Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy Nemour: niece of Henry IV of France, Marie Jeanne Baptiste, lady-in-waiting to the queen of France, left the palace of Louis XIV, the Sun King, in 1665 to become duchess of Savoy. Widowed since 1675, Marie Jeanne Baptiste ruled the duchy until 1684, when her son Victor Amadeus II assumed power on authority. During her reign she faced the poverty caused in Piedmont by the great famines of 1677-1680 and, to help the most needy, she established a Monte di prestito and also founded the Hospital of St. John the Baptist in the eastern expansion area of the city. At the same time, he developed ambitious dreams with the hope of seeing his son occupy the throne of Portugal and promoted the establishment of the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin. For her residence, Palazzo Madama, Maria Giovanna Battista in 1718 invited the Messina architect Filippo Juvarra to create the grand staircase of honor of Palazzo Madama, an absolute masterpiece of European Baroque.

There is also room for the everyday life of the palace, which is well represented in the exhibition with paintings and objects: the conversations among the ladies, the table, the moment of grooming with small precious objects. Life at court is governed by precise ceremonials and takes place in rooms that reflect the taste of the duchesses: furniture in the French taste, such as the tortoiseshell and precious metal coffee table by the famous cabinetmaker Pierre Gole(Bergen, 1620 - Paris, 1684), table tops in painted stucco, wall hangings in “corame d’Olanda,” and clocks.
Over the decades, in Turin as in Europe, the attraction to the Orient grew with “China-style” furnishings, porcelain and products from the colonies: tea, coffee, chocolate. In the life of the Madame Royals, religious devotion plays an important part. Christina promoted the arrival of the Carmelite Orders in Turin, and Maria Giovanna Battista maintained her own apartment in the Carmelite monastery. Sacred icons and prayer books are always faithful companions of the brilliant court life.

And again, the exhibition emphasizes the role of fashion: indeed, Christina affirms the fashion of French-style dress, a “political” choice that replaces the Spanish-style dress of the years of Charles Emmanuel I and Catherine of Austria. Silhouettes, the choice of fabrics and jewelry change, with diamonds and pearls as protagonists, guided by the instructions of ministers in Paris. From there come the scented gloves and embroidered gowns of the dukes, who wear silver and gold lace, from Venice and Flanders, fully espousing the rampant passion for lace. As regents, Christina and Maria Giovanna Battista are portrayed in mourning, developing an image that lends support to their authority and power.

The works on display come from loans from private collectors and major Italian and foreign museums: the Polo Museale del Piemonte, with portraits from the Racconigi Castle picture gallery, the Royal Museums of Turin, the University National Library in Turin, the Uffizi Galleries and the Silver Museum in Florence, the Textile Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, the Renaissance Museum in Ecouen, the Prado Museum in Madrid, and the Castle Museum in Versailles. Artists on display include Anton Van Dyck, Frans Pourbus the Younger, Giovanna Garzoni, Francesco Cairo, Philibert Torret, Juvenal Boetto, Jacques Courtilleau Charles Dauphin, Pierre Gole, Carlo Maratta, Maurizio Sacchetti, and Filippo Juvarra. The exhibition is curated by Clelia Arnaldi di Balme, Maria Paola Ruffino. For all information you can visit the official website of Palazzo Madama by clicking here.

Pictured: Francesco Cairo, Pharaoh’s Daughter Welcomed Moses Saved from the Waters (c. 1645; oil on canvas).

A major exhibition at Palazzo Madama featuring Christina of France and Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy Nemours

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