Castagnoli Room
Sala di Castagnoli
During Medici times this room, a part of the grand duchess's apartment, served two ends: it was one of her bedrooms and it housed her ladies-in-waiting.
From 1805-1812, during the French occupation, two smaller rooms were connected by Giuseppe Cacialli to form an antechamber for the two new apartments intended for the Emperor and Empress. One of these smaller rooms had two marble niches with iron grates. Anna Maria Luisa, the Palatine Electress, used these and glass cases arranged along the walls to display her collection of porcelain. The second smaller room was called the "camera buia" because the only illumination in the room came from small windows above then niches described above. The apartments intended for the emperor and empress were never in fact completed.
The painted decoration of the walls and ceiling was executed by Giuseppe Castagnoli (Prato, 1754-1832), with murals that were modified upon the restoration of the Lorenese in 1815.
From 1805-1812, during the French occupation, two smaller rooms were connected by Giuseppe Cacialli to form an antechamber for the two new apartments intended for the Emperor and Empress. One of these smaller rooms had two marble niches with iron grates. Anna Maria Luisa, the Palatine Electress, used these and glass cases arranged along the walls to display her collection of porcelain. The second smaller room was called the "camera buia" because the only illumination in the room came from small windows above then niches described above. The apartments intended for the emperor and empress were never in fact completed.
The painted decoration of the walls and ceiling was executed by Giuseppe Castagnoli (Prato, 1754-1832), with murals that were modified upon the restoration of the Lorenese in 1815.