1400

After years during which the furnishings were looted, even though these were never of exceptional value, a late-century inventory reveals the panels of a “wardrobe” containing elegant textiles of all kinds, wall fabrics, and tapestries, made at the famous manufactures at Arras or, more probably, at Tournai and Brussels, which unfortunately have been lost. The renewal of the palace is due to Amedeo IX and particularly to his wife Yolande of France: she is credited, in all likelihood, with purchasing the precious series of tapestries. (Image: Biblioteca Nazionale, Turin, ms. D. VI. 2, f 1v-2)

Bianca di Monferrato, the widow of Carlo I of Savoy and ruler for her son, temporarily changed residence in order to host in her apartment the King of France, called by Ludovico Sforza in opposition to Alfonso II of Naples for the inheritance of the Milanese duchy. The appeal for hospitality at different locations, like inns and taverns, is frequent just as the use of the nearby Bishop’s Palace, connected by a gallery to the castle late in the century. The construction was a base to the more well-known one of Carlo Emanuele I, in the 1600s. Given the mobility of the lords across the land, medieval residences were not equipped in a permanent way for hospitality.

The years of the reign of Duchess Yolande, during the illness of her husband Amedeo IX of Savoy and the childhood of her son, are full of celebrations: in August 1474, for example, a moresca is held, a dance with masks for the election of the new city rector: in September, a banquet is held in honor of Bernarda de Brosse, wife of Marquis Guglielmo VIII di Monferrato, with a great quantity of silverware and theatrical performances. In 1475 Anna, daughter of Duke Amedeo IX, married Federico d'Aragona, who arrived with his entourage of around 500 people and 372 horses. The court entrusts the decorations to famous artists like Nicolas Robert, a well-known painter from Piedmont

In May, for a visit to the castle of Porta Fibellona on the part of the Dauphin (the future Amedeo IX) a staircase was built resting on two large columns in stone in Piazza del Castello in front of the entrance, and a wooden wall was built in the "aula magna," probably to cover with tapestries.

Ludovico, the second child of Amedeo VIII and Prince of Piedmont starting in 1431, decreed that the Cismontane Council (traveling between the castles of Pinerolo, Fossano, and Turin during the princedom of Amedeo) take up permanent residence in the castle of Turin, where he sojourned, but in a discontinuous way. The architecture interventions during the first decade of his rule include repairing a rotten bridge, the castle windows, some flooring, and the creation of new windows for the princesses’ room and for the Sala Acaia, where a new door was added (traces remain today), leading to the inner courtyard. (Image: Musée du vitrail, Romont, Savoy Coat-of-Arms)

While his fist born, appointed Prince of Piedmont, began ruling the cismontane provinces in person, Amedeo VIII spent part of his time in the castle of Turin and the rest in the castle at Pinerolo. The documents mention the same magistri who were responsible for refurbishing the building under Ludovico d’Acaia. At this time new benches are made for the loggia and the ceilings of the “de Bon Droyt” and the spiral staircase are restored. A credenza for cheese is built and the treasurer’s logbook mentions the purchase of wood to close off Piazza del Castello with an enclosure, equipped with iron rods, to block animal access.

This document allows us to recreate the rooms available in the castle, which reached its largest size: more than ten rooms are set aside for services (kitchen, cellar, wine cellar, oven, reception on the ground floor, cloak room on several floors); four are intended as living quarters and an office for the treasurer, for the master of the palace, and for the secretaries; there are just as many spacious grand or common use halls; around ten rooms are bedrooms, including the winter bedroom of the lord, called camera col pello. There are also two loggias in addition to the one for the secretaries, a chapel, a room for the apothecary, and spaces used for storage or servants.

After the death of Ludovico d’Acaia, who had no heirs, the Acaia princedom passed on to Amedeo VIII of Savoy. Even though he never lived here, the duke ordered some important refurbishment work for the castle of Turin, like installing a cornice (or crenellation) above the tower, while that same year, 1426, the purchase of nails to hang some curtains suggests a ceremonial use for the large “low” hall. Work on the garden is also documented and includes pruning the vineyard and rose garden. (Image: Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Brussels, ms. 10317-18 f.1)

In September, three months before the death of Ludovico d’Acaia, for the visit of Martin V, who had just been elected pope in the Council of Constance and was on his way to Rome, new work to the castle of Porta Fibellona was done. This in particular involved restoring damaged walls and porticoes while parchment and nails were purchased to close the windows and block the curtains. Moreover, tables and stools were repaired or purchased along with the bed linens for the pope. The probable painting commissions to Giacomo Jaquerio can be dated to this time, or shortly earlier. Today they no longer exist except for information on the payment.

The second intervention phase in the castle ordered by Ludovico d’Acaia focuses on building a new corner tower to the southeast: the team consists of new laborers, directed by a magister, Giacobino da Santhià, who appears for the first time in the documents and who is also attributed with the spiral staircase, called a viretto, built to connect various floors of the castle. Construction on the tower facing northeast began a few months later. At the back to the left of the medieval courtyard the remains of the spiral staircase can still be found, thanks to the glass flooring that covers the excavations by D'Andrade in the late 1800s.

The garden, which never appears in 14^th-cenury documents, now engages different sorts of laborers with respect to the castle and even female workers. An aqueduct was built for irrigation along with a drain. Rows of grape vines are planted and, subsequently, other crops as well, like spinach, leeks, olives, pears, apples, palms, and willows. The Acaia princes wanted a modern residence, similar to courtly ones in Northern Italy. Proof of this is the falcon keeper, a master clock maker, school desks, and a parrot cage. (Image from "La cité des dames" by Christine de Pizan, British Library, London)

After the mid-14^th century, new needs required giving up space in order to create rooms for the residence. The initial work phase began in 1402 and lasted a little over a decade. The logbooks of the treasurer mention the construction of a new pen for boars, a dovecote, a new drawbridge, and a new loggia. These artisans also made some new furniture, and tasks of greater importance were given to Andrea de Thaurino: building a new chapel, extending the walled enclosure, and painting the rooms to be used to program and preserve bottles on the ground floor.