Castle of Rivoli

History

The castle was probably built in the 9th–10th centuries. Its existence is mentioned for the first time in 1159, in a diploma by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa that ceded the Rivolese territories to the bishops of Turin.

The House of Savoy acquired Rivoli in the 11th century. Soon afterwards, a feud began with the bishops, which in 1184 resulted in damage to the castle. In 1273 King Edward I of England visited, returning from crusade to England, he was met by the Count of Savoy's messengers before travelling on to Susa and the Mont Cenis on the way to visit Count Philip I at Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche.

In 1330 Amadeus VI of Savoy allowed the Consiglio dei Principi, which is the senior administrative council of the countryside, to occupy it. The castle was the first place of public veneration of the Shroud of Turin.

The castle then experienced a period of decline. In 1559, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis forbade Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy from residing in Turin until he had a male child. He therefore resided in the Castle of Rivoli, having it restored by architect Ascanio Vitozzi. In 1562 his heir Charles Emmanuel I was born, and he returned to Turin. Works on Vitozzi's designs were brought on until 1644 under Carlo and Amedeo di Castellamonte, with the construction of the so-called Manica Lunga, intended to house the Savoy Gallery, the sole 17th-century part of the edifice still visible today. Numerous works of art were stolen by French troops in the following years. …

Renovation projects

The first post-World War II renovation works were carried out under the Turin architect Andrea Bruno. Unfortunately, the initiative was not completed, available funding being enough only repair of structural damage. In 1967, Bruno proceeded to break down the decaying parts of the atrium, built at the beginning of 900 AD.

Since its launch, Castello di Rivoli has presented an ongoing programme within its Baroque architecture and offsite, including solo shows, special commissions as well as group exhibitions featuring important Italian and International contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as: aaajiao, Carla Accardi, Franz Ackermann, Francis Alÿs, Carl Andre, Karel Appel, Stefano Arienti, Ed Atkins, Yuri Ancarani, Giovanni Anselmo, Francis Bacon, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Vanessa Beecroft, Anna Boghiguian, Candice Breitz, Sophie Calle, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Janet Cardiff, Maurizio Cattelan, Gianni Colombo, Claudia Comte, Anton Corbijn, Enzo Cucchi, Merce Cunningham, Roberto Cuoghi, Thomas Demand, Raymond Depardon, Jan Dibbets, Patrizio Di Massimo, Marlene Dumas, Olafur Eliasson, Max Ernst, Bruna Esposito, Luciano Fabro, Lara Favaretto, Teresita Fernández, Lucio Fontana, Yang Fudong, Anna Gaskell, Frank O. Gehry, Mario Giacomelli, Alberto Giacometti, Gilbert & George, Nan Goldin, Dan Graham, Andreas Gursky, Keith Haring, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller, Roni Horn, Pierre Huyghe, Anne Imhof, Arata Isozaki, Francesco Jodice, Joan Jonas, On Kawara, William Kentridge, Martin Kippenberger, Per Kirkeby, Franz Kline, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, James Lee Byars, Nalini Malani, Piero Manzoni, John McCracken, Ana Mendieta, Bertrand Lavier, Renato Leotta, Richard Long, Mario Merz, Joan Mirò, Carlo Mollino, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat, Max Neuhaus, Pedro Neves Marques, Helmut Newton, Claes Oldenburg, Uriel Orlow, Giulio Paolini, Philippe Parreno, Giuseppe Penone, Elizabeth Peyton, Paola Pivi, Arnulf Rainer, Michael Rakowitz, Robin Rhode, James Richards, Thomas Ruff, Anri Sala, Doris Salcedo, David Salle, Thomas Schütte, Marinella Senatore, Wael Shawky, Cally Spooner, Hannah Starkey, Haim Steinbach, Hito Steyerl, Keiichi Tahara, Alessandra Tesi, Armando Testa, Wolfgang Tillmans, Grazia Toderi, Coosje van Bruggen, Paloma Varga Weisz, Emilio Vedova, Jan Vercruysse, Francesco Vezzoli, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, Andro Wekua, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Gilberto Zorio, amongst others. …