PARMA: THE DUCHESS'S CHINA

Coronavirus restrictions forced Parma, Capital of Culture 2020, to move many of its events and exhibitions to 2021, including the major exhibition at the Ducal Colorno Palace of the vast 18th century collection of china and ceramics gathered by the Duchess Luisa Elisabetta of France and her husband Filippo di Borbone.

The collection contains rare pieces from the leading factories of Europe, such as Meissen, Sévres, Vincennes, Chantilly, Doccia and Capodimonte, and was dispersed after the Unification of Italy and the suppression of the Duchy of Parma. The exhibition has gathered together many of the most precious porcelain figurines and decorated plates that are now part of the collections of Italian museums and institutions like the Quirinale Palace (official Residence of the President of Italy), the Royal Museum of Torino, the Uffizi Gallery and the Villa Medici Museum of Poggio di Caiano.

Princess Luisa Elisabetta, known as “Babette”, daughter of Louis XV of France, was a passionate collector, purchasing many of the most refined pieces during her frequent visits to Versailles. Her husband, whom she called “Pippo”, shared her enthusiasm and her tastes. The couple, who had both come from two of the wealthiest and most luxurious royal courts of Europe, set themselves the task of modernizing and refining the gloomy and rundown residence allotted them in Parma, as demonstrated in the letters and archive documents also on show in the exhibition, containing items like proposed architectural plans and furniture designs, engravings and a cookery book of 18th century recipes.

The exhibition is due to re-open on the 15th May and, Covid permitting, will run until the 19th September 2021.

Info: Tel. +39.0521.312545 www.reggiadicolorno.it

Posted on 24 Mar 2021 by Editor
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