The ballroom: “the gallery”

The Grand Ballroom is the largest and most important room on the Main Floor, dedicated to the family’s most formal occasions, used to host events and entertain illustrious guests. The fresco in this room, realized in its entirety by Crescenzio La Gamba, reproduces illusionary architectural perspectives, surrounded by numerous mythological beings. Inside two niches are representations of Apollo, symbol of music, and Heracles, probably a tribute to the Bourbon family and to the contemporary archaeological finds in the nearby city of Ercolano, which the family had been invested in since 1738. The frescoed medallions on the walls are a reference to the twelve labors performed by the demigod, for which he obtained immortality. A particular mention should be made for the artisans who worked on the decoration of the room, particularly Saverio d’Emilio and Carmine Salvatore, who were commissioned “the carving and molding of eight pedestals and a shelf to be used in the gallery and crystals for two trumeaux placed in the room of the noble apartment that overlooks Naples and for the crystal cabinet ”, while in 1774 Stefano Atticciati was entrusted with the task of sculpting eight marble busts“ with “capes of different colors”.

The living room overlooks the splendid exedra, retracing it with a terrace from which the Gulf can be admired, as well as the garden from above. From right to left, it is possible to see Naples, Capo Miseno, Procida and Ischia, Capri and the Sorrento peninsula.