Venaria Reale, Hercules Fountain water theater restored, baroque scenic machine

Presented today therestoration and enhancement of the Hercules Fountain Water Theater at the Venaria Reale Gardens. A 17th-century masterpiece byAmedeo di Castellamonte, the Hercules Colossus Fountain complex, built between 1669 and 1672, was the site of festivities: a Baroque scenic machine resulting from the dialogue between nature and architecture. It originally consisted of staircases and pavilions, ornate nymphaea and grottoes, water features, and an extensive decorative apparatus, in which the Hercules Colossus, the protagonist placed in the center of the large pool, stood out.

A symbol of the late Mannerist garden, it had been envisioned by Castellamonte as one of the great wonders of the new palace commissioned by Duke Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy. Conceived and realized for loisir and based on a refined play of allegorical references and mythological allusions, the water theater gave luster to the Savoy dynasty. A change in taste and war events decreed its dismantling as early as the early eighteenth century; the decorative and statuary heritage was dispersed to other royal and noble residences and the site demolished and buried. In the early 2000s, as part of the La Venaria Reale Project, coordinated by the Superintendency and the Piedmont Region, major excavation work was carried out, freeing the ruins. The Council for the Enhancement of the Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Turin has therefore accepted the request to intervene on what was one of the spectacular architectures of the hunting residence of the Savoy family, in order to complete the work of recovery of the Reggia di Venaria. In fact, this is thelast piece of the Venaria Reale Recovery Project, which began in 1998. This very year marks fifteen years of the opening of the Reggia di Venaria and twenty-five years of the Unesco recognition of the Royal Residences of Savoy. The revival of the Water Theater celebrates these anniversaries.

Companies and member institutions of the Turin Council have been joined in the project by prestigious partners, such as Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Reale Mutua, Consortium of the Royal Residences of Savoy, A.V.T.A. - Friends of the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale, and Iren.

Conceived by architect Gianfranco Gritella, the project was the result of careful studies and investigations and activated synergies between leading public and private institutions in the country. “The restoration work,” explains the designer and director of works, “followed the principle of ’conservation design’ intended as a guarantee of respect for the characteristics proper to the surviving architecture. Starting from the study and knowledge of the artifacts, the aim was to mend the relationship between intervention and pre-existence. The entire project is based on the concept of ’light intervention’ recalled to give strength to the idea of a sustainable restoration, through the use of two historical materials (wood and iron), both used with assembly systems that allow complete reversibility.”

Michele Briamonte, president of the Consortium of the Residences of Savoy, added, “The impressive restoration and enhancement of the monumental complex of the Fountain of Hercules in the Gardens of the Reggia represents the last fundamental act of the overall completion of the Venaria Reale restoration project, which began in 2007 and has been defined as Europe’s largest construction site for a cultural asset. It is a very important milestone that marks the new rebirth of the Reggia on the very 15th anniversary of its inauguration, now enriched by yet another extraordinary attraction. I can only be proud and delighted, and congratulate also on behalf of the entire Board of Directors and Director General Guido Curto, thanking the various institutions, patrons and especially the Turin Council for making possible, together with the Consortium, with exceptional generosity, perseverance and remarkable efforts this incredible achievement.”

Photo by Paolo Robino.

Venaria Reale, Hercules Fountain water theater restored, baroque scenic machine

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.