At a glance

Stupinigi Palazzina Caccia (the most precisely Stupinigi zone Stupinigi Piemonte Italy 44.9913 N 7.5961 E UNESCO WHS 1997 reference 823: the building (the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi: dimensions: the main facade 370 m total; the central block: 80 m × 60 m; the Sala Centrale ovalare: 40 m × 32 m; the total floor area: 31,050 m2; 137 rooms on 4 floors; the height of the Sala Centrale: 32 m; the number of windows in the main facade: 102 (a precise window count makes Stupinigi one of the most window-intensive baroque buildings in Piedmont)); the form (the cruciform plan (the “X-plan” or “pianta a croce di Sant’Andrea”): 4 wings radiating from the central oval salon at 45° angles; the specific innovation (this plan had never been used before for a residential building in Italy (previous cruciform plans were limited to churches: the Greek cross church plan was standard since Bramante’s San Pietro in Montorio (1502 CE)); Juvarra chose the X-plan to maximize the direct visual connection between the 4 wings and the forest/hunting ground in all directions)); the Sala Centrale (the oval salon: 40 m × 32 m × 32 m high; the function (the salon is the hinge of the X: all 4 wings open onto it; the salon was used for post-hunt celebrations and royal balls; the specific seating capacity (for a ball: the oval dimensions accommodate 400 couples dancing in a single ring; the balcony level (the mezzanine at 8 m height) adds 200 standing spectators; total: c.1000 people); the fresco programme (Giovanni Battista Crosato, 1731–32 CE; 2 years): the “Triumph of Diana” and “Triumph of the Hunt” ceiling fresco: a trompe l’oeil ceiling that extends the architecture of the room by an apparent 10 m into a painted sky; the specific technique (Crosato used the “sotto in su” (from below looking up) trompe l’oeil: the painted figures and architecture are foreshortened as they would appear from floor level; the effect is that the room appears to be open to the sky above a painted balustrade with figures leaning over)).