Artificial Light in the Aristocratic Palaces in the Po Valley between the 17th and 18th Centuries

Modesto Paroletti’s remark about the salone in Stupinigi, “c’est une architecture qui se prête aux illusions de la nuit” (Paroletti 1817, 70), clears up an aspect that is often disregarded by literature: the important role and influence of lighting in the planning and in the living of the magnificent rooms in aristocratic palaces. It is a very large and complex topic, which regards the ways and “times” of living and, more generally, it is closely intertwined with social and ceremonial aspects of aristocracy: the possibility of lighting artificially – which means to extend the times of living until then marked by the sun light – is not within the reach of everybody and therefore it defines behaviour and habits of an elite. This research is focused on the typical technical aspects of artificial lighting inside aristocratic palaces; besides the lighting devices – which had greatly increased and had continuously undergone significant modifications – and their disposition in important reception halls and rooms, the research proposes to define the results of a lighting project that was becoming closely integrated with the buildings, thus influencing their planning. The study is carried out with a careful analysis of some buildings that were significant in the Duchies of the Este and Farnese families, and extended to examples and experiences in other areas of northern Italy such as Turin, Genoa and Milan, proposing in the paper the more interesting case-studies. The period which is taken into account goes from the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th, which had evidenced a few changes and aroused questions of a certain interest. Due to the lack of fittings in buildings or their replacements during the time, other sources – such as archival documents, iconography as well as chroniclers’ and travellers’ descriptions – are considered, and they are compared to the definition of inner spaces and the material traces of disappeared devices. Starting our survey from some palaces in Emilia dated back to the half of the 17th century, first evidences come out from the reading of their inventories; we are aware of the limits inherent in these sources of information.1 Documents describe buildings almost without permanent candleholding fittings or other devices for artificial lighting, whereas there is an important presence of candlesticks. This is the case, e.g. of the residences of the Marquis Rangoni in Parma and Modena, of the counts Costa’s city palace in Piacenza;2 moreover, going up in the rank, of Este and Farnese’s countryside buildings in Colorno and Sassuolo. On this topic, a very detailed inventory describes the Marquis Rangoni’s residences in Parma and in Roccabianca, a feud of the family. In the guardaroba of the countryside one, there were 29 candlesticks, of different materials, sizes and manufacture. Among the materials, there were brass and painted wood; otherwise both silver and silvered-wood and silveredstucco are only mentioned in the city residence. Besides, the specific use of candleholders is often recognized, such as the “candeglieri per tavola,” for the kitchen, for the chapel, for playing the “truccho” and for decorating the “bucintoro.” It suggests how the use of these objects could fully respond to the daily needs of artificial lighting of the residence.