The gilded throne in the Royal Palace of Naples has returned to the Throne Room after a 16-month absence for restoration. The cleaning, repair and regilding has made its decoration legible again, and new research has discovered that it was commissioned by the Bourbon kings of Naples as long believed, but rather by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy. It is also a little younger than previously known.
The throne went all the way up north to be restored by the experts at the “La Venaria Reale” Conservation and Restoration Center (CNR) in Turin. They have specific experience in throne restoration, so they followed the same protocol, applies the same analyses and technologies they used to restore, for example, the throne of the Quirinal Palace in Rome. The team took complete digital X-rays of the throne to get detailed information on its construction. They then revived the gilding with lasers. The precision of laser technology allowed conservators to remove past alterations and substances that had oxidized, causing the original gold layer to look dark and dingy without resorting to harsh solvents and chemicals. It also preserved two different layers of gilding that had been applied in the past.
After the cleaning, conservators consolidated areas where the materials were loose. The structure of the chair was made of soft conifer wood, with decorative accents in poplar and linden wood. They were in poor condition and areas of loss needed to be shored up with a gesso and glue mixture before regilding.
Unfortunately the fabric in the seat, backrest and footrest were too damaged to repair. They were replaced by contemporary textiles of the same kind and color. The braided tassel fringe was also largely in unsavable condition. The few braid sections that were in useable condition were carefully cleaned and reattached. The rest were replaced by a company that specializes in reproducing historic trim. The new braided trim was sewn to the fabric one braid at a time as it was done originally.
The textiles in the Throne Room — the carpet is rests on, the covering of the dais, the curtains, valances and canopy — all needed extensive repair and some replacements as well. The palace’s restorers worked directly in the Throne Room in public view for three months to make the space ready for the return of the throne.
While the throne was undergoing conservation, art historians at the Royal Palace of Naples searched the archives and discovered that the catalogue entry that listed the throne as a Bourbon work commissioned between 1845 and 1850, was inaccurate. It was in fact commissioned by the Savoy family in 1874 after the Unification of Italy.
* This article was originally published here
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