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www.museotorino.it
The Chapel
of the Holy Shroud
—
From Ascanio Vitozzi to Guarino Guarini:
projects, calamities and restorations
The idea of preserving the Holy Shroud in a chapel specially
built for it, inside the Cathedral of Turin, dates back to 1579
when Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy decided to move
the holy linen Cloth from Chambéry to Turin.
During the construction of the Ducal Palace, which started
between 1562 and 1574, a circular-plan chapel began to
be built. Here the Shroud was kept until the completion of
the Guarini’s Chapel. At the end of the 19th century, the
Ducal Palace was demolished. With the construction of
the new sumptuous residence, which is the current Royal
Palace, ordered by Carlo Emanuele II, the Chapel of the
Shroud became one of the main component elements
of the project. In 1658, the architect Bernardino Quadri
provided a new plan, which would lay the foundations of
the following, final plan of Guarini.
In fact, in 1668, the architect Guarino Guarini was entrusted
with the definitive project. By inserting a "lining" of black
marble of Frabosa in the pre-existing masonry, Guarini
started the project that would become a masterpiece.
The Chapel of the Holy Shroud of Turin was heavily
damaged by a fire that broke out during the night of
April 11
th
, 1997. Since then, the city carried out an hard
structural intervention, just completed, and an action
concerning the architectural conservation and the
decorative restoration that will be completed by 2017. ■
Guarini started
the project that would
become a masterpiece
Facciata interna del S.
Sudario di Torino
, incisione
su disegno di Guarino Guarini,
1737. Archivio Storico della
Città di Torino.
Spaccato assonometrico
della cappella della
S. Sindone
, in
Dizionario
Enciclopedico di Architettura
e Urbanistica,
Roma: Gangemi,
2005 - 2006.
Sezione generale verticale
della cappella.
Archivio Soprintendenza Belle
Arti e Paesaggio per il Comune
e la Provincia di Torino.
■
1694
Il 1° giugno la Sindone, che fin dal
suo arrivo aveva conosciuto varie
sistemazioni provvisorie, è trasferita
definitivamente nella cappella
progettata dall’architetto Guarino
Guarini e costruita tra il Duomo e il
Palazzo Reale, uniti da un passaggio,
dove rimane fino al 1993.
/
On June 1st, 1694 the Shroud came
solemnly into the Guarini Chapel where
it remained until 1993.
■
1706
Durante l’assedio della città da parte
delle truppe francesi, la famiglia ducale,
ad eccezione di Vittorio Amedeo
II, rimasto in città per organizzare
la resistenza e attendere i rinforzi
imperiali comandati dal cugino Eugenio
di Savoia-Soissons, si trasferisce a
Genova portando con sé la reliquia.
/
During the siege of the French troops,
the Ducal Family moved to Genoa
carrying the Shroud.
CRONOLOGIA DELLA SINDONE
/
CRONOLOGY OF THE SHROUD
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