The "Queen of Genoa" will be restored thanks to partnership between Palazzo Ducale and Volotea

The Madonna Queen of Genoa, a 1729 masterpiece by Francesco Schiaffino (Genoa, 1689 - 1765) that adorns the altar of the Doge’s Chapel, a splendid room in Genoa’s Ducal Palace, will undergo restoration. The iconography of Schiaffino’s marble sculpture was set in 1637, when the Republic of Genoa transformed itself into a monarchy, but elected the Madonna queen, so that, in practical terms, the political structure of the Republic did not change, but formally the state could deal “as equals” with the other European monarchies of the time. The first painting of the Madonna Queen of Genoa was painted at that time by Domenico Fiasella, while the sculpture that Schiaffino made for the chapel that had been lavishly decorated on all sides by Giovanni Battista Carlone in 1655 is almost a century later.

The restoration of the statue will be possible thanks to a partnership between Palazzo Ducale and the airline Volotea, which will financially support the intervention.The announcement was made this morning by the director of Palazzo Ducale, Serena Bertolucci, and Volotea’s Italy commercial country manager, Valeria Ribasti. “Involving private partners in important projects for the enhancement and preservation of our cultural heritage,” Serena Bertolucci told ANSA, “becomes more and more necessary every day, and not only for a mere economic issue. Above all, it is important because it is a strong signal of participation of civil society, it is the recognition that the cultural good belongs to everyone and as such it should be accompanied with the commitment in the first person.”

The Doge’s Chapel today is an integral part of the Doge’s Palace tour (one arrives at the environment at the end of the temporary exhibitions and just before entering the bookshop) and is one of the finest examples of Genoese Baroque in existence. Moreover, the Chapel will be the subject of an in-depth reading, edited by Giacomo Montanari, which you can read in the third issue of Finestre sull’Arte’s print magazine.

Pictured: Francesco Schiaffino, Madonna Queen of Genoa (1729; marble; Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, Doge’s Chapel). Ph. Credit: Alessandro Pasquali for Danae Project/Finestre sull’Arte.

The "Queen of Genoa" will be restored thanks to partnership between Palazzo Ducale and Volotea

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