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is the heart of the nineteenth-century wing of Palazzo Carignano.
Planned by architects Giuseppe Ferri ( ) and Domenico
Bollati ( ) and built between 1864 and 1872 to house the
Parliament and related facilities of the newborn Kingdom of Italy,
it was never used in its intended capacity because in those very years
the Italian capital was transferred from Turin to Florence and eventually
to Rome. |
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The
grand fresco on the ceiling, completed in 1878 by Francesco Gonin
(1808-1888), the foremost nineteenth-century Piedmontese painter,
depicts the Triumph of the Arts and Sciences. The corners bear
symbolic representations of Literature, Mathematics, Law, and
Medicine. These frescoes are framed by perspective structures
by Pasquale Orsi (1819-?) |
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In
the course of time, the Hall has served the most diverse purposes:
ceremonies, parties, and banquets. It has been a library and a concert
hall. In 1961, with its walls painted in dark colours, it was included
in the great exhibition celebrating the centenary of Italy's unification.
In 1965 it housed the first exhibition on anti-fascism and the Resistance.
The massive abstract-constructivist work of Turinese artist Leonardo
Mosso La Nuvola Rossa (The Red Cloud), installed in 1975,
is evocative of blood and victory and connects the WW1 Section with
the Resistance Gallery. Between 1981 and 1996, the Hall was the background
of an exhibition of labour standards, i.e. the flags of industrial
workers' associations operating in Italy between the nineteenth century
and the rise of Fascism. |
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Between
1997 and 1998 the hall was brought back to its original aspect thanks
to complex and thorough restoration works funded by the Consulta
per i Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino. |
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