The Royal Palace of Naples opens the Androne delle Carrozze with an exhibition on war damage

The documentary exhibition Palazzo Reale: War Damage and Restoration. A history in images from 1943 to the 1950s, curated by architect Stefano Gei and art historian Antonella Delli Paoli, theAndrone delle Carrozze, a new exhibition space in the Royal Palace of Naples, created by opening the connection between the Cortile d’Onore and the Cortile delle Carrozze, which had hitherto been used for technical functions and as a storage room, and has now been upgraded. A historic space of the Palace has thus been returned to the public, restoring the 19th-century connection between the two courtyards.

On the occasion of its opening, a rich selection of reproductions of historical photos tracing the events of the Royal Palace during the years of World War II and the years immediately following it is being exhibited: from the damage caused by the bursting of the military ship Caterina Costa, anchored in the harbor loaded with ammunition and exploded in March 1943, to the bombings that caused damage to the facades, roofs and historic rooms such as the Theater and Chapel; from the establishment of the Welfare Club for the Allied military, which entailed further tampering and damage, to the extensive restoration work that was completed in the 1950s, when the Historical Apartment was reopened to the public.

The wartime damage is witnessed by more than one hundred photographic reproductions from some of the most important Neapolitan photographic archives (Soprintendenza, Vigili del Fuoco and Archivio Parisio), just as the long and important restoration work that began at the end of the conflict is documented by a selection of reproductions of the drawings kept in the archives of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the City of Naples.

Also on display are reproductions of photos and documents from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the Allied Control Commission in Washington (kept in copies at the Central State Archives in Rome), including the plan of the Historical Apartment with the Welfare Club project (1944), already known but offered here for the first time in its full configuration.

The exhibition itinerary is punctuated by quotations intended to evoke the wartime atmosphere from Curzio Malaparte’s The Skin and the writings of Bruno Molajoli (then Superintendent of the Galleries of Campania) and Paul Gardner (U.S. Army major and director of MFAA Region III - Subcommission for Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives), the latter among the main architects of the preservation of monuments and works of art in Campania during the war period.

“With the opening of the Androne delle Carrozze, an additional historical space of the Palace is offered for public use after the Genovese Gallery, opened in December 2021 and intended for temporary exhibitions. The Androne will also be designated for the staging of small exhibitions, preferably photographic, with free access every day of the week,” said Palazzo Reale Director Mario Epifani. “The exhibition on war damage and subsequent restoration represents an important opportunity for collaboration with the Soprintendenza, which found its home here precisely as a result of the war events and has since followed the building’s recovery and museum refitting. For us, this exhibition is, on the one hand, an anticipation of what will be the ”Factory Museum,“ an introductory space to the visit of the Historical Apartment that will be set up in spaces near the Androne delle Carrozze, together with the new ticket office. This is an itinerary that through models, paintings, historical photos and documents will tell the story of the Royal Palace from its construction to the present day. On the other hand, the documentation of the war damage and especially of the subsequent restoration and refurbishment work, displayed here, is a fundamental knowledge base for the important work that has already been started as part of the Strategic Plan ’Great Cultural Heritage Projects,’ for which the Royal Palace has obtained 23 million euros in funding from the Ministry of Culture.”

“Among the many aspects that the exhibition highlights, at least two should be emphasized: the identification of new exhibition spaces within a museum institution already strongly connoted by such use of the complex and the problems underlying the challenging activity of recovering cultural heritage damaged by a disastrous war event. The period of post-war reconstruction offers, in the field of conservation, many insights into the methodologies adopted and what restoration theories placed at the service of practitioners. The Exhibition is a significant opportunity to investigate what was valuable in those years,” said Salvatore Buonomo, Soprintendente Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio Municipality of Naples.

“The recovery of the Androne delle Carrozze allowed the restoration of the connection between the two courtyards of the Palace, through a passage of about 200 square meters covered, creating a perspective telescope that projects the gaze towards the nascent exhibition spaces. The restoration work was carried out in just two months with an economic commitment of 130 thousand euros as part of the ’Great Cultural Heritage Projects’ funding. The rooms, hitherto used for storage, were reclaimed, the masonry was treated with breathable plaster, and a fire prevention, video surveillance and low-energy lighting system was installed. Finally, the ancient paving stones were restored and the access gates from the two courtyards were recovered,” concluded Almerinda Padricelli, architect in charge of projects and works at the Royal Palace.

The exhibition is open Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with free admission.

The Royal Palace of Naples opens the Androne delle Carrozze with an exhibition on war damage

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