Ritorno a casa. Il cofano ritrova smalto

The crowdfunding for Palazzo Madama

Palazzo Madama has today a great occasion: the acquisition of five Limoges enamels which originally decorated the back of the Guala Bicchieri coffer, a masterwork of our museum and of European Gothic. The five enamels had probably been removed from the casket during the XVIIIth century - when it was kept in the Sant’Andrea Abbey in Vercelli (Piedmont) -, then they reached a private collection in France and finally an art gallery in Paris, where they are now on sale. To prevent a new dispersion, we would like to bring them back in Piedmont, in order to reunite these precious fragments to the coffer to which they belong, and from which they have been stolen some centuries ago.    

The enamels

The five enamels, in gilded copper and champlevé enamel (blue, green and white), were originally fixed to the back of the Bicchieri coffer, today completely bare, and they occupied the spaces between the historiated medaillons, also lost. Their acquisition will therefore allow to reposition them on our “treasure chest”, giving back to this art work a part of its lost decoration.

A masterpiece in Palazzo Madama collection

The Palazzo Madama coffer is a unique object within medieval art: for the splendour of its enamels and of the lock, with hybrid creatures in chiseled copper – a piece which alone is judged one of the greatest masterpieces of XIIIth century goldsmith’s art; for the lavishness of its decor: with the nine medaillons of the front, in openwork copper, representing animals’ battles; and the eight medallions on the sides, with secular scenes described with extreme naturalism. The distinctiviness of the cardinal’s casket comes also from the fact that there is only one other coffer in the world with similar dimensions and decoration – in Aachen cathedral –, nevertheless a piece of a later date and much restored in modern age. 

Cardinal Guala Bicchieri

Palazzo Madama's coffer also represents a unique example for its historical value, since its owner, Cardinal Guala Bicchieri (Vercelli ca. 1160 - Rome 1227), was one of the most influential politicians of his time. He was the main agent of crucial diplomatic missions in Italy and Europe on behalf of Pope Innocent III, who appointed Guala Bicchieri regent of the kingdom of England after the death of sovereign John Lackland, a position the Cardinal held between 1216 and 1218.

Furthermore, the coffer was part of a rich collection - assembled by the Cardinal during his travels across Europe - which included 104 liturgical vestments, 80 goldsmithery, 8 works of l'Oeuvre de Limoges , 70 rings and 130 manuscripts. Surprisingly enough, ten artworks which belonged to that collection have survived and now-a-days are preserved in different institutions: Palazzo Madama, the Leone Museum in Vercelli, the Castello Sforzesco in Milan and the National Library in Turin. The richness of this collection and Guala Bicchieri's important commissions - the foundation of Sant'Andrea abbey in Vercelli in 1219 and the cycle of frescoes in the apse of San Martino ai Monti church in Rome - include the Cardinal in the small list of those ecclesiastics of the early thirteenth century who were both great art collectors and main patrons of important religious foundations.

Make a donation and become part of the history of Palazzo Madama

For all these reasons, we ask you to join our project and help us bring the five enamels from Guala Bicchieri's coffer back to Italy, to the museum that preserves the masterpiece of his artistic collections.

We need to raise the sum of 50 thousand euros to purchase the five enamels and rejoin them to the coffer.

Every contribution is important and thanks to your support you will become part of the thousand-year history of Palazzo Madama.