Room 2 - Boudoir

The architect Francesco Collecini placed the Boudoir, a four-roomed complex for private use in the English style, next to the bedroom.

Like the one in the Royal Palace of Caserta, it consists of a Dressing Room, a Retreat and two small toilets, i.e. small rooms for private use, generally found in every noble palace or apartment.

The Dressing Room had the walls painted in a “paonazzo” colour, a very dark shade of purple. There were dark grey silk curtains and eight still life paintings that brightened up the room.

This room also featured furniture made of mahogany wood. It included: green leather chairs and two square tables; gilded brass shelves; two “secrétaire” cabinets, i.e. desks with a removable marble top and several drawers and compartments.

The Retreat had “straw yellow” painted walls and a red velvet upholstery embellished with golden fringes and braids. Inside, behind a green silk curtain, there were an English clay basin, clad in gold plated copper, twelve Holland’s fabric tablecloths, and some daily cleaning tools.

The small room also contained a beech wood washbasin accompanied by a basin, i.e. a shallow round vessel, and a terracotta jug. The furnishings were completed by a cherry wood bedside table with two drawers and a marble top; two chamber pots; a saucer and a crystal bottle for perfume; a glass for oral hygiene; a walnut retreat – used as a toilet – and a bidet.

The two small toilets were painted in a “Calicut straw yellow” colour with chiaroscuro decorations, and in a “speckled pink” colour.

Similarly to the Dressing Room, in both there were green leather chairs and still life paintings on the walls, which included four paintings by Giacomo Nani titled: Dried figs and hazelnuts, Seafood, Fish on plate and jug and Green melon with flower vase. They had been placed in these rooms in 1817, and they were moved to furnish the new entrance on the first floor only in 1880.