The Royal Apartments () are the part currently open to visitors and is located on the
piano nobile of the western core of the palace. Throughout its history it has undergone several changes of use and name: from 1616 to 1734 it was used as the apartments of the
Spanish and Austrian viceroys and their consorts; from 1734 to 1806 it was the public and private apartment of the
king and queen of Naples; from 1806 to 1815 it served as the "honorary" and "ordinary" apartment of
Joseph Bonaparte and
Joachim Murat; It was later called the "Grand Apartment of His Majesty the King" and
Ferdinand I and
Ferdinand II were the last to inhabit it. After the 1837–1844 renovation by Gaetano Genovese, it was called the "Etiquette Apartment of the King and Queen" and was used only for receptions, as the sovereigns moved to the second floor of the eastern wing. Originally, to access the king's rooms, silver and gold keys were used, guarded by the
gentlemen of the chamber, some of which are in the
Museo Civico Filangieri donated by Neapolitan nobles.
The collections The current decoration represents the tastes of the different dynasties and historical figures who have lived there, as well as different political messages typical of a building that represented the pinnacle of power in the kingdom. The reference date is the inventory made by the Savoy family in 1874, which describes the rooms after the late Bourbon modifications (1837–1844) and some slight changes introduced after the Unification in 1860. There are also more intimate and contemporary paintings from the apartments in the east wing, such as
troubadour paintings commissioned by the Murats from artists such as
Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste de Forbin or the chronicle paintings of the great moments of the reigns of Francis I and Ferdinand II by
Salvatore Fergola and
Frans Vervloet. However, due to the sending of the most important paintings to the
Real Museo Borbonico between 1829 and 1832 and the transfer of paintings to the
Capodimonte from 1862 onwards, the palace's collection of paintings today appears more scattered and impoverished than before, with its series and iconographies fragmented. In the 1874 inventory, the paintings were given special importance, together with the furniture, tapestries, flowered hangings and large neo-baroque mirrors, as creating a sumptuous atmosphere.
Floor Plan The Royal Apartment is composed of a grand staircase, an ambulatory, a chapel, the hanging gardens and the Gallery and Hall of Hercules, in addition to the rooms that make up the King's apartment and the Queen's apartment. • ██ Grand Staircase • ██
Ambulatory • ██ King's Apartment :1 Court Theatre :2 First Antechamber :3 Neoclassical Sitting Room :4 Second Antechamber :5 Third Antechamber :6 Throne Room :7 General's Passage :8 Ambassadors' Room :9 Maria Cristina Room :10 Oratory :11 Great Captain's Room :12 Flamingo Room :13 King's Office :29 Bodyguards Room • ██ Queen's Apartment :14 Queen's Fourth Drawing Room :15 Queen's Third Drawing Room :16 Queen's Second Drawing Room :17 Queen's First Drawing Room :18 Queen's Second Antechamber :19 Queen's First Antechamber :20 Vestibule :23 First Backroom :24 Second Backroom :25 Third Backroom :26 Queen's Passage :27 Maria Amalia of Saxony's Bedchamber :28 Passageway :34 Queen's
Boudoir • ██ Gallery and Hall of Hercules. :21 Gallery :22 Hall of Hercules • ██ Palatine Chapel • ██ Hanging Gardens
Grand Staircase The north side of the courtyard, orthogonal to the façade, was originally occupied by a modest two-ramp staircase, the work of
Domenico Fontana. However, after the
anti-Spanish revolt of 1647, the viceroy
Iñigo Vélez de Guevara commissioned a new and monumental staircase from Francesco Antonio Picchiatti. The new space was built between 1650 and 1670 in Piperno, and was inspired by the immense staircase of the Real
Alcázar of Toledo, built by
Alonso de Covarrubias and
Juan de Herrera between 1550 and 1605. The new staircase, which occupied an entire side of the courtyard of honour, was built in accordance with the importance that the Austrian ceremony gave to these spaces.
Montesquieu described it in 1729 as the most beautiful in Europe, however it had to be rebuilt after the fire in February 1837. The rooms of the royal apartment open off the ambulatory: in the first arm, which runs parallel to the façade towards the
Piazza del Plebiscito, are the court theatre and the audience chambers; in the second are the private rooms of the former private apartment, which overlook the hanging garden; in the third, facing east, are the Hall of Hercules and the royal chapel; and finally, the fourth arm leads to the grand staircase, from which one can see through a stained glass window the
Piazza Trieste e Trento, with a view, in the distance, of the
Carthusian monastery of San Martino.
The King's Apartment The Court Theatre (Room I) was originally the "Sala Regia" or "Sala Maggiore" and was the largest room according to Fontana's project. From the beginning it was used for balls, comedies and festivities, and from 1648 Picchiatti decorated its ceiling with sumptuous gilded stucco and paintings by order of the viceroy
Count of Oñate. This renovation ran parallel to the creation of another large ceremonial room in the palace, the "Sala de los Virreyes" (now the Hall of Hercules). During the reign of
Charles of Bourbon it was regularly used for theatrical performances and a large stage was set up on it. Its current appearance, however, dates back to 1768, when on the occasion of the wedding of
Ferdinand IV and
Maria Carolina of Austria it was completely remade by
Ferdinando Fuga in a classicist baroque style. After the serious damage suffered during the Second World War, the stage and the ceiling had to be rebuilt between 1950 and 1954, with frescoes painted by
Francesco Galante,
Alberto Chiancone,
Vincenzo Ciardo and
Antonio Bresciani. These authors took up in their paintings the themes of the original frescoes by
Antonio Dominici and
Crescenzio La Gamba. In the niches there are the original cartapesta statues made by
Angelo Viva, representing
Minerva,
Mercury,
Apollo and the nine
Musess. The First Antechamber (room II) served as the "Room of the Guard Corps" during the time of Charles of Bourbon, while during the time of the Savoy it was called the "Dining Room of the Diplomatic Corps". The most notable feature of the Carolingian period is the fresco, painted between 1737 and 1738, in commemoration of the wedding between the monarch and
Maria Amalia of Saxony. Painted in a
cloister vault, it was the work of
Francesco de Mura, while the
trompe l'oeil were by Vincenzo Re. On an easel is displayed a fragment of the early baroque decoration of the vault, dating from 1622 to 1629 and depicting the exploits of
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. The doors, painted with tempera on a gold background, are attributed to the workshop of Antonio Dominici and were made between 1774 and 1776. However, during the Allied occupation this room was used as a performance hall for the English troops. so several decorative elements were lost, such as the parquet, the sumptuous frames of the tapestries, the wall sconces or the rocaille overdoors with medallions. The furniture is now completed by stools dating back to 1815. On its walls are paintings such as the
Staircase of the Royal Palace with the exit of the Bourbon princesses after the wedding, by Antonio Dominici, and the
Royal Chapel of Naples with the wedding of Maria Theresa and Maria Luisa of Bourbon with Francis II of Habsburg and Ferdinand III of Lorraine, an event that took place on 12 August 1790. There are also several tempera paintings on paper, made by
Anton Hartinger and
Franz Xaver Petter, which belonged to
María Isabella of Spain. In a niche of the
exedra there is a marble statue by Giovanni De Crescenzo dating from 1841 and representing a
Winged Nymph. The walls contain paintings from the
Seicento, such as the Vestment of Saint Aspreno by
Massimo Stanzione. The famous Pala Colonna by Raphael, acquired by King Ferdinand IV and taken into exile by Francis II in 1860, also hung there; It is currently in the
Metropolitan Museum in New York. The furnishings include a console of Neapolitan manufacture from 1780, 19th century armchairs and mirrors, and other
Empire style furniture brought here by the Murat family. There are also clocks and candelabra by the bronzer
Pierre-Philippe Thomire and 19th-century Chinese porcelain vases, which
Nicholas I of Russia gave to Ferdinand II on the occasion of his trip to Naples in 1845. The walls are decorated with a series of tapestries of Neapolitan manufacture, including the
Rape of Proserpina by Pietro Duranti, made in 1762 from a preparatory
cartoon by Girolamo Starace Franchis, which was recommended by
Luigi Vanvitelli. The furniture is in the
Baroque and
neo-Rococo styles and consists of a console table and mirrors from the second half of the 19th century. The ornaments include French porcelain vases from the 19th century, decorated with biblical figures and dancers from Pompeii, by Raffaele Giovine, who also painted two other vases from 1842, manufactured in Sèvres, placed on small columns and decorated with scenes and floral motifs. A new hanging and a canopy of red
velvet embroidered with
fleurs-de-lis in gold thread were also installed that same year. All this changed radically during the Savoy period; the gilded fleur-de-lis were removed in 1862, and a new "Turin brocade" and canopy were installed in the
Palazzo dei Normanni in 1877. After the brocade was lost during the Allied occupation, it was replaced by the simpler hangings of today. The furniture, meanwhile, dates from the 1840s and was made in the
Empire style in Neapolitan workshops; They are complemented by four corner torchères from the Murat period, made in
Sarreguemines, Among the paintings on display are the
Stories of Judith by Tommaso De Vivo, several paintings on religious themes by Neapolitan artists and one by
François Marius Granet. In the room there is a statue in
mahogany and bronze by the artist Thomire, It was conceived as a French-style Appartement, that is, a space where the owner exhibited his most precious art collections. However, it was a restricted space, which in the viceregal era was used for the meetings of the most important governing body, the Collateral Council. The ceiling paintings date from that period, inserted in fourteen compartments surrounded by gilded stucco and representing the great moments of the
House of Austria and several episodes from the life of
Ferrante of Aragon. Originally the room was decorated with a large number of paintings, however between 1829 and 1832 a large part of the palace's ancient painting collection was sent to the
Real Museo Borbonico, The former Rey's private oratory (room X), The Hall of the Great Captain (room XI) owes its name to the fresco cycle
Stories of Gonzalo de Córdoba by
Battistello Caracciolo, which has as its theme episodes of the Spanish conquest of the kingdom of Naples by
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, called the Great Captain. During the 18th century, this room, which had no windows, served as a bedroom for the king's valet. The so-called Flamingo Room (room XII) was, like the previous room, a dark space with no direct lighting in the 18th century, served as a rear antechamber. Among the furniture ornaments are a 1730 clock by
Charles Clay, with a mechanical barrel organ inside capable of producing ten different tones; and a
jardinière table with views of Russian residences and a birdcage made by the Popov factory in Gorbunovo in Moscow, which was given to Ferdinand II during Tsar Nicholas I's trip to Naples in 1846. What is now known as the King's Study (room XIII) is a modern creation. Under Charles of Bourbon this space was occupied by two windowless rooms: a private room and the staircase leading up to the
chambermaids' rooms. In the 1920s, the furniture from Ferdinand II's office in the east wing, which had been cleared to house the National Library, was installed in this room. These pieces of furniture (desk,
chest of drawers and
secretaire) were made by the Parisian cabinetmaker
Adam Weisweiler and the bronzesmith
Pierre-Philippe Thomire between 1808 and 1811 for Napoleon's apartments at the
Quirinal Palace. In 1814, after the fall of the French Empire, Murat ordered them to be moved to Capodimonte. The rest of the decoration is complemented by two Sèvres porcelain vases given in 1817 by
Louis XVIII and decorated with portraits of the said sovereign and his brother the
Count of Artois; and a clock and a barometer from 1812, also French.
Queen's Apartment Today, this
enfilade of rooms facing the sea is visited in the opposite direction, entering through the more intimate spaces and exiting through the more public rooms. Then, the tour is made in the opposite direction along the row of private rooms, located facing the courtyard. The Queen's Fourth Living Room (room XIV) received this name after Genovese's reform, since in the 18th century it was the "Queen's Bedchamber Room". The
alcove with the bed was situated where the central door is now (room XXVII), next to which there were two small steps leading to the private rooms, the one on the left served as a
cabinet or toilet (room XXXIV) and the one on the right as an oratory (room XXXVI). On the walls there are paintings from the Neapolitan school from the 17th and 18th century, including
Orpheus and the Bacchantes and
The Meeting of Rachel and Jacob, by
Andrea Vaccaro, and two canvases by
Luca Giordano from the church of Santa Maria del Pianto. The Neapolitan Empire style furniture dates from 1840 to 1841, the clock with carillon is English from the 18th century, while the table top is of hard stone, made by the
Opificio delle pietre dure of
Florence and given by
Leopold II of Tuscany to Francis I. The Third Queen's Salon (room XV) was the "Hand-Kissing Room" of
Maria Amalia of Saxony and
Maria Carolina of Austria, It is also called the Hall of Landscapes due to the landscape paintings from the 16th to the 19th centuries that are exhibited; such as works by
Pieter Mulier, representations of Spanish royal palaces by
Antonio Joli, chronicle paintings by
Jakob Philipp Hackert, the
Seaports by
Orazio Grevenbroeck,
Laying of the first stone of the Basilica of San Francisco de Paola by
Aniello de Aloysio, and
Entry into Naples of Ferdinand I by
Paolo Albertis. The Empire furniture dates from 1840, as does the fireplace, which reproduces the
mosaic of the battle between Darius and Alexander the Great in the
House of the Faun at
Pompeii; in the centre of the room is a marble and soft stone table by
Giovanni Battista Calì with a depiction of Naples seen from the sea and Ferdinand II in military uniform. The Second Antechamber of the Queen (room XVIII) has a white and gold stucco ceiling from the Genovese reform under Ferdinand II, while the furniture is from the reign of Joachim Murat, of Neapolitan manufacture, and the Chinese vase is from the 18th century. The paintings on display in the room belong to the Farnese collection and are mostly by Emilian artists of the 17th century. The First Antechamber of the Queen (room XIX) was later named the Still Life Room because of the still lifes hanging on its walls. a genre widespread in Naples during the 18th and 19th century. Many come from the country houses and hunting lodges of the Bourbon kings. The furniture consists of Neapolitan Empire-style consoles from the 19th century, rococo-style Sèvres porcelain vases, and a double table. The Vestibule (room XX) is a large neoclassical space located in the centre of the south façade of the palace. It was created during the Genovese reform (1837–1844), which conceived a T-shaped space articulated by Corinthian columns and pilasters. It formed the fulcrum of the palace, connecting the "Queen's Etiquette Apartment", the Guest Staircase, the Hanging Garden and the eastern wing of the palace. The vault is covered in white stucco and the walls are home to four niches housing plaster copies of Roman sculptures. The other works on display also refer to neoclassical culture: engravings inspired by scenes on Greek vases in the
Hamilton collection, made by
Wilhelm Tischbein between 1791 and 1795; and three preparatory tempera paintings for the book of engravings
Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte, from 1757 and 1792;
Biedermeier furniture; or a Neo-
Pompeian bronze and marble table decorated with satyrs holding shells (originally portrait medallions of the royal family) a gift from Queen
Maria Isabella to her husband Francis I for his birthday on 4 October 1827. In addition, there is a temple-shaped astronomical clock, a French Napoleonic clock with enamels by Coteau, the bronze bust
Antinous as Dionysus by
Guglielmo Della Porta, and the marble sculptures
Roma Aeterna by
Pietro Tenerani and
Achilles with the Helmet by a disciple of
Thorvaldsen.
Gallery and Hall of Hercules The so-called Gallery (room XXI) leads directly onto the Carriage Courtyard and, like the nearby Vestibule (room XX), was a link between the western core of the palace and the eastern wing. The mirrors on the walls are set between neoclassical
pilasters, while the furniture consists of white and gold consoles from the late 18th century, as well as armchairs dating from the French decade, a gilt bronze centrepiece and French porcelain from the 19th century. The Hall of Hercules (Room XXII) did not exist in the original project by Domenico Fontana, being added from 1648 by the viceroy
Iñigo Vélez de Guevara and inaugurated in 1652 on the occasion of the celebrations for the end of the
Reapers' War. It was then decorated with a series of portraits of the Spanish viceroys from 1503 onwards, the work of
Massimo Stanzione, later continued by
Paolo De Matteis, and was therefore given the name of "Hall of the Viceroys". As the "Sala Regia" (Room I) it was used for large-scale festivities and theatrical celebrations. Under the reign of Murat, between 1807 and 1809, the architect
Antonio De Simone completely redecorated the space, removing the portraits and turning it into an
antiquarium with plaster casts from the collection of antiquities such as the
Farnese Hercules, from which it took its name. The room is also decorated with a French carpet from the second half of the 17th century made by the
Savonnerie Manufactory for the
Louvre and later brought to Naples by Murat;
Boulle clock with marquetry, decorated with an
Atlante holding the globe, by
Isaac Thuret; a green Sèvres porcelain vase with a vignette depicting
Homer among the potters of Samos by
Antoine Béranger, donated to Francis I in 1830; and two "extra-large" neo-Rocaille vases of
Limoges from 1847, from the Ballroom in the east wing and painted in Naples by Raffaele Giovine with scenes illustrating the abdication of Charles, Bourbon in favour of Ferdinand IV in 1759.
The Queen's private rooms The sovereign's private and service rooms were located behind the main state rooms, facing the courtyard of honour. Today, it houses a collection of furniture and paintings from different periods from different areas of the palace. The first backroom (room XXIII) has a neoclassical ceiling designed by Genovese. On the walls are displayed six canvases of the
Seasons and work in the fields by
Francesco Celebrano and from the
Royal Palace of Carditello. The furniture is neo-baroque and Neapolitan in manufacture. In the centre of the room there is a revolving lectern, typical of monasteries, made by
Giovanni Uldrich in 1792. It comes from the library of
Maria Carolina of Bourbon and allowed several books to be consulted at the same time, placed on eight hanging shelves that could be brought closer to the desk by turning a crank. The second private room (room XXIV) served in the 18th century as a cabinet where books were kept the queen's porcelain collection, The furniture dates from the first quindenio of the 19th century. The room is decorated with two Sèvres porcelain vases, decorated by
Etienne Le Guay with an
Allegory of Music and Dance from 1822; and a porcelain and gilded brass centrepiece, with porcelain plaques painted by Raffaele Giovine with the royal palaces of Naples,
Capodimonte and Caserta, donated to Ferdinand II by the Municipality of Naples on the occasion of the promulgation of the Constitution of 1848. The third and last room (room XXV) also preserves the rocaille ceiling with reticular motifs from the second half of the 18th century. The walls are hung with canvases of landscapes and costumbristas by painters active in Naples in the 19th century. In addition, you can also see tapestries such as
Allegory of Air,
of Water and
of Earth by
Domenico Del Ross made by the Royal Tapestry Factory of Naples between 1746 and 1750, and inspired by those of the Grand Ducal Tapestry Factory in Florence. The paintings have literary and romantic themes, such as
Tommaso De Vivo's ''Dante's Inferno'' and
Beniamino De Francesco's
Tasso in Sorrento. Among the furniture, a Sorrento
marquetry table stands out. The Alcove of Maria Amalia of Saxony (room XXVII) contained the sovereign's bed, and was open until 1837 with a large arch to the bedroom (room XIV). Its ceiling was decorated in the course of the 19th century with stucco, covering the previous frescoes painted in 1739 by
Nicola Maria Rossi. Among the paintings of Neapolitan customs on display are Two Fishermen by
Orest Adamovič Kiprenskij, presented at the Neapolitan Exhibition of 1829; The Wounded Bandit by
Luigi Rocco from 1837; Easter Blessing by
Raffaele D'Auria; and
Sleeping Fisherman by
Salvatore Castellano. The so-called
Boudoir of the Queen (room XXXIV) is the other side passage that communicated with her bedroom (room XIV), originally it served as a toilet. Room XXVIII is a passageway. == The Royal Chapel ==