Vittorio Emanuele - Prince of Naples

Heir to the last King of Italy spent his life in exile

Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, the only
son of Italy's last monarch, died at the age of 86

Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, the only son of Umberto II, the last King of Italy, was born on this day in 1937 in Naples.

He had to leave Italy when he was nine years old following the constitutional referendum held in Italy after World War II. The referendum affirmed the abolition of the monarchy and the creation of the Italian republic in 1946.

Umberto II had been King of Italy for just over a month and was afterwards nicknamed the May King. He had been de facto head of state since 1944, after his father, King Victor Emmanuel III, had transferred most of his powers to him.

Umberto lived for 37 years in exile in Cascais on the Portuguese Riviera. He never set foot in his native Italy again as he, and all his male heirs, were banned from Italian soil.

His only son, Vittorio Emanuele, spent most of his life exiled from Italy and living in Switzerland. He married a Swiss heiress and world-ranked water skier, Marina Doria, in 1971.  They had one son, Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice, who was born in 1972.

Umberto II was King of Italy for just
over a month before being exiled

Vittorio Emanuele also used the title Duke of Savoy and claimed to be head of the House of Savoy, although this claim was disputed by supporters of his third cousin, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, and his son, Almone. 

During his exile from Italy, Vittorio Emanuele was tried for murder in France after an incident on his yacht while it was in French waters. He claimed he had fired his gun at a burglar, but the shot accidentally killed someone on another yacht. He was cleared of unlawful killing but convicted of a firearms offence. 

Vittorio Emanuele was also once arrested on charges of criminal association, racketeering, conspiracy, corruption, and exploitation of prostitution, but was acquitted on all charges after a trial started in Potenza.

He was finally able to return to Italy in 2002 after the law barring members of the royal family from entering Italy was repealed. Along with his wife and son, he had a 20-minute audience with Pope John-Paul II at the Vatican.

Vittorio Emanuele died in Geneva on 3 February 2024 at the age of 86. His funeral was held on 10 February at Turin Cathedral and was attended by representatives of other European royal families, including Queen Sofia of Spain and Prince Albert of Monaco.

His ashes were interred in the royal crypt at the Basilica of Superga, the traditional burial place of the House of Savoy.

His heir is Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice, who announced last year that he intends to renounce his claim to the throne of Italy in favour of his eldest daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy.

Palazzo Madama, once home of the Turin senate,
is one of the palaces at the heart of 'royal' Turin

Travel tip:

Turin, the capital city of the region of Piedmont, has some fine architecture, which illustrates its rich history as the home of the Savoy Kings of Italy. Piazza Castello, with the royal palace, royal library, and Palazzo Madama, which used to house the Italian senate, are at the heart of ‘royal’ Turin.  Turin’s Duomo - the Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista - was built between 1491 and 1498 in Piazza San Giovanni, on the site of an old Roman theatre. Some members of the House of Savoy are buried in the Duomo, which is most famous as the home of the Turin Shroud - believed by many to be the actual burial shroud of Christ - which is kept in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, added in 1668. 

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Filippo Juvarra's magnificent Basilica di Superga
looks down on Turin from the top of a hill 

Travel tip:

The Basilica of Superga, where Vittorio Emanuele’s ashes are interred, was designed by Filippo Juvarra, the Baroque architect from Sicily who built or contributed to many churches in Turin. Construction at Superga began in 1717 and the basilica, commissioned by Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, the future king of Sardinia, was consecrated in 1731, fulfilling a pledge Victor Amadeus had made to mark his victory over the French in the Battle of Turin, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The basilica’s elevated position on top of Superga hill, with a colossal dome rising to 75m (246 feet), means that it often sits serenely in sunlight while mist shrouds the city below. It can be reached by a steep railway line, the journey taking about 20 minutes.  Superga, sadly, has a modern association with tragedy for the people of Turin after a plane carrying virtually the entire Torino football team, who were champions of Italy at the time, crashed into a wall at the back of the basilica in May 1949, killing all 31 people on board.

More reading:

Valentino Mazzola, an Italian great who perished at Superga

The 16th century Duke who made Turin the capital of Savoy

Filippo Juvarra, the Baroque designer who influenced the look of 'royal' Turin

Also on this day: 

1602: The birth of painter Michelangelo Cerquozzi

1799: The death of scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani

1923: The birth of film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli

1944: The birth of actress and singer Claudia Mori

(Picture credits: Palazzo Madama by Lurens; Basilica di Superga by M Klueber; via Wikimedia Commons)

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Pietro Ottoboni - patron of music and art

Venetian cardinal spent fortune on composers and painters

Francesco Trevisiani's portrait of Cardinal
Pietro Ottoboni, painted in around 1689

Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who is remembered as the biggest sponsor of the arts and music in particular in Rome in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, died on this day in 1740 in Rome.

Despite a somewhat licentious lifestyle that reportedly saw him father between 60 and 70 children, Ottoboni, whose great uncle was Pope Alexander VIII, was considered a candidate to succeed Pope Clement XII as pontiff following the death of the latter on 6 February.

However, he developed a fever during the conclave and had to withdraw. He died three weeks later.

Born into a noble Venetian family, Ottoboni was the last person to hold the office of Cardinal-nephew, a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages that allowed a pontiff to appoint members of his own family to key positions. The practice was abolished by Alexander VIII’s successor, Pope Innocent XII, in 1692.

Ottoboni was also made vice-chancellor of the Holy Church of Rome, a position he held until his death, which gave him an annual income that would have been the equivalent today of almost £5 million (€5.79m).  Although he had several positions of responsibility, including superintendent general of the affairs of the Apostolic See, and governor of the cities of Fermo and Tivoli, he was an unashamed seeker of sensual pleasure.

This translated into a considerable number of mistresses but also a great love of music, in the pursuit of which he spent lavishly and, despite his wealth, managed to run up substantial debts.

Arcangelo Corelli's career flourished with
Pietro Ottoboni's financial support

Soon after he was made a Cardinal, he set about restoring the theatre at the Palazzo della Cancelleria, his residence in Rome.  The theatre had been unused for 15 years but Ottoboni was determined to make it the centre of music in Rome.  Filippo Juvara, his court architect, enlarged the theatre and turned it into one of the most technically advanced opera venues in the city, while Ottoboni hired the finest singers and musicians available. One of his favourites, the castrato Andrea Adami, was made master of the papal choir at the Sistine Chapel.

Operas by Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara and many other leading composers were premiered at the Cancelleria.  Ottoboni supported Arcangelo Corelli, the greatest violinist of his generation, and worked with the German musician and composer George Frideric Handel for a period early in the 18th century.

His relationship with Corelli was such that when the musician died in 1713 he left his entire estate to the Cardinal, who in turn distributed it among Corelli’s family and arranged for him to buried at the Pantheon in Rome, his tomb marked with an elaborate memorial. 

Other composers who had Ottoboni to thank for the advancement of their careers included his fellow Venetians Antonio Vivaldi and Tomaso Albinoni.

Ottoboni’s patronage extended beyond his own theatre. He was also the major benefactor of what is now the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Italy’s premier conservatory, and the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. 

The cover of the libretto for Scarlatti's
 'The Martyrdom of St Cecilia'

He made his own contribution to the advancement of the opera genre as a librettist.  His position in the Church meant he could not publish them under his own name, especially after Clement XI banned all public opera performances in 1701. It is widely thought, for instance, that the libretto for Scarlatti's 1693 opera La Giuditta was written by Ottoboni.

Beyond the world of music, the Sicilian architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini, who became one of the most prominent figures in the Sicilian Baroque movement that grew after the earthquake of 1693, and painters Sebastiano Conca, Sebastiano Ricci and Francesco Trevisan also benefited from his support. The Seven Sacraments, which he commissioned in 1712 and was executed by Giuseppe Maria Crespi, is now in the Museum of Dresden in Germany.

Ottoboni was a collector of art as well as a sponsor, yet much of his vast collection was lost to Italy when he died, as a result of his debts, which demanded that his possessions be sold and the proceeds shared among his creditors.

Among his 530 paintings, some of which he inherited from his great uncle but many that he bought himself over half a century, included works by Guido Reni, Tintoretto, Pietro da Cortona, Jacopo Bassani, Giuseppe Cesari and Paolo Veronese.  They were disposed of in four sales and have consequently been distributed around the world.

The Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome was Cardinal Ottoboni's
home as vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church

Travel tip:

The Palazzo della Cancelleria, which was Cardinal Ottoboni’s residence in Rome, is situated between Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Campo de' Fiori. It is probably the earliest Renaissance palace to be built in Rome, designed by the architect Donato Bramante and constructed between 1489 and 1513, initially as a residence for Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who was treasurer of the Holy Roman Church under Pope Sixtus V, and subsequently evolved as the seat of the Chancellery of the Papal States. It was also used as the parliament building by the short-lived Roman Republic in the mid-19th century.

Rome's ancient Pantheon is the burial place of many
famous individuals, including Arcangelo Corelli

Travel tip:

Considered to be Rome’s best preserved ancient building, the Pantheon, which can be found in Piazza della Rotonda, was built in AD 118 on the site of a previous building dating back to 27 BC. It was consecrated as a church in the seventh century and many important people are buried there, including the kings Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, and Umberto’s wife, Queen Margherita, and the writers Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo and Émile Zola.

More reading:

How Arcangelo Corelli influenced the development of music

Why Alessandro Scarlatti was ahead of his time

Vaccarini's legacy to the city of Catania

Also on this day:

1792: The birth of composer Gioachino Rossini


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Benedetto Alfieri – architect

Talented designer behind the Teatro Regio in Turin

Turin's Royal Theatre was hailed
as Alfieri's masterpiece

Baroque architect Benedetto Innocenzo Alfieri was born on this day in 1699 in Rome.

He was a member of the Alfieri family who originated in Piedmont and he became the uncle of the dramatist, Vittorio Alfieri. Benedetto was also the godson of Pope Innocent XII.

Alfieri was sent to be educated in mathematics and design by the Jesuits. He later moved to Piedmont and lived in both Turin and Asti, where he practised as a lawyer and an architect.

Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia, one of his patrons, commissioned him to design the Royal Theatre in Turin, originally assigned to Filippo Juvara, but who died before work began. The building was acknowledged as his masterpiece, but it burned down in 1936 and the theatre did not reopen until 1973.

Benedetto also helped with the decoration of the interior of the Basilica of Corpus Domini in Turin and the interior of Palazzo Chiablese next to the Royal Palace in Turin. In recognition, Charles Emmanuel III made him Count of Sostegno.

Alfieri also completed the bell tower of the Church of Sant’Anna in Asti and the façade of Vercelli Cathedral. He designed the bell tower of the Basilica of San Gaudenzio in Novara and completed the neoclassical façade of Saint Pierre Cathedral in Geneva.

During his career he collaborated with artists such as Luigi Acquisti, Giovanni Battista Borra and Emilio Usiglio, among many others.

Alfieri died in Turin in 1767.

An 18th century painting of the original interior
of the Teatro Regio in Turin

Travel tip:

The Teatro Regio - Royal Theatre - originally designed by Benedetto Alfieri, is an opera house in Turin that presents several operas between October and June each season. The theatre originally seated 1500 people, with 139 boxes on five tiers and a gallery. The theatre closed during the First World War and reopened in 1919. In 1936, fire destroyed all but the façade of the theatre. It was to remain closed until 1973.  The theatre was inaugurated on December 26, 1740 but was closed on royal order in 1792 and it became a warehouse, reopened only after the French occupation of Turin during the Napoleonic War, the theatre was renamed the Teatro Nazionale. Napoleon's fall in 1814 saw the theatre returned to its original name.

The facade of the Palazinna di Caccia di
Stupinigi, the Savoy hunting lodge

Travel tip:

Benedetto Alfieri was responsible for the decoration of the Palazinna di Caccia di Stupinigi, a hunting lodge that was one of the residences of the House of Savoy. Located in a suburb of the town of Nichelino, 10km (6 miles) south west of Turin, the building is now on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.  Stupinigi was the preferred building to be used for celebrations and dynastic weddings by members of the House of Savoy. In 1773 at the lodge, Maria Teresa, Princess of Savoy, married Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVI and the future Charles X of France. Today the building houses the Museo di Arte e Ammobiliamento, a museum of the arts and furnishings, some original to the palazzina, others brought from the former Savoia residences of Moncalieri and Venaria Reale.

Also on this day:

1671: The birth of composer Tomaso Albinoni

1823: The birth of Giuseppe Fiorelli, the archaeologist who saved Pompeii

1852: The birth of Guido Banti, the first physicist to define leukaemia


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