La Piazza Reale di Caserta: progetti, realizzazione e diffusione dell’immagine di una ‘città reale’ tra Sette e Ottocento

Carlo and Maria Amalia di Borbone commissioned Luigi Vanvitelli to design a new royal palace and a city in Caserta (the work on the palace began in 1752); the palace was inhabited after twenty-seven years and the Royal Square, the only part built of the city, was finished after about ninety years. Soon after, in 1846, Ferdinando II organized a large carnival party. The event had great resonance thanks to two paintings by Fergola and the commemorative publication of the event by Filippo Cirelli. We aim to demonstrate the relationship between the works of the square, finally completed, and the representations of the event that offered the opportunity to show the royal square together with its royal palace.