Still life with image of St. Anthony Abbot

The sovereigns considered the “Real Casino di Carditello” (Royal Palace of Carditello) to be a real home, where they felt welcome as human beings, even before being kings and queens.

It must be for sentimental reasons, in fact, that during the reign of Ferdinand II of Bourbon, in 1854, a small painting of Prince Don Sebastian of Bourbon – the king's cousin and brother-in-law, having married his sister Maria Amelia – was brought into the sovereign's Dressing Room.

In the small domestic scene of the painting, in which it is possible to recognize a child's hand, there are represented, among other things: a basket, a cauliflower, an onion, a bottle of wine, copper and terracotta pots, artichokes and the devotional icon of St. Anthony Abbot – also considered to be the protector of domestic animals.