MUSEI REALI DI TORINO – CAPPELLA DELLA SACRA SINDONE

The historical and architectural events that led to the creation of the Chapel of the Holy Shroud In their current configuration, they developed along a complex and articulated path that lasted about eighty years (1611-1694).

The chapel was originally commissioned by the duke. Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy a Charles of Castellamonte in 1611, with the aim of safeguarding the precious relic of the Shroud, which had belonged to the Savoy dynasty since 1453 and was transferred to Turin in 1578. Over time, the project underwent numerous transformations: first at the hands of Amedeo di Castellamonte, son of Carlo, and later of the Swiss Bernardino Quadri, who in 1657 designed a square-based building, located between the ducal palace (future Royal Palace of Turin) and the apse of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist.

In 1667, the position passed to the Theatine friar. Guarino Guarini, one of the leading figures of European Baroque, who revolutionised the previous design and completed the project before his death in 1683. Guarini designed a spectacular circular interior, raised above the presbytery of the cathedral and directly connected to the state rooms on the first floor of the Royal Palace.

The construction work was finally completed in 1694, the year in which the relic of the Holy Shroud was transferred to Guarini's chapel and placed on the central altar designed by Antonio Bertola. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the interior was further enriched by four sculptural groups commissioned by the king. Charles Albert of Savoy, depicting illustrious members of the House of Savoy.

From 1694 until the early 1990s, the Chapel permanently housed the relic, which is now kept in the transept of Turin Cathedral. During the night between 11 and 12 April 1997, a devastating fire severely damaged the building, necessitating a long and complex architectural and structural restoration. The operation, one of the most challenging ever undertaken in this field, was carried out under the supervision of a commission composed of institutions from the Ministry of Culture, together with the Curia and the Diocese of Turin.

At the end of this demanding restoration process, Guarino Guarini's extraordinary Baroque architecture has finally been returned to the public and is now once again accessible as part of the tour of the Royal Museums of Turin.