Palazzo Madama in Turin

Nestled in the heart of Turin, Italy, Palazzo Madama has borne witness to key figures and administrative duties. The traditional moniker comes from the embellishments received under two queens of the House of Savoy, Christine of France and Marie Jeanne of Savoy. The site of the palace was occupied by a gate in the Roman walls from which the decumanus maximus of Augusta Taurinorum departed. The Savoia-Acaja enlarged the building into a castle in the early 14th century, and a century later Ludovico of Acaja rebuilt it in a square shape with an inner court, a portico, and four cylindrical towers at each corner.

After the demise of the Acajas, the edifice became a residence for guests of the House of Savoy. In 1637, Christine of France, acting as regent for Duke Charles Emmanuel II, chose it as her personal residence and commissioned the covering of the court and a revamping of the inner apartments. Sixty years later, Marie Jeanne of Savoy, known as Madama Reale, lived in the palace and invited many artists to renovate the building. Since 1934, the building has housed the City Museum of Ancient Art.

The palace served as the first Senate of the Kingdom of Italy. Today, the section built by Filippo Juvarra in 1716 constitutes a scenographic façade a single bay deep, screening the rear part of the edifice. This façade expresses a magnificent architectural preamble to an edifice that was never built, featuring a high-ceilinged piano nobile with arch-headed windows linked to a mezzanine by a row of pilasters of the composite order.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons