La forma del gusto: “sale à manger”, architettura e committenza a Palermo dal secondo Settecento ai primi anni del XX secolo

The contribution examines for the first time a specific theme of the culture of living, the Salle à manger (in the title presented in a hybrid form between Italian and French, as often happened in archival documents).The research aimed to address the apparently marginal issue but which, instead, affects the culture of the Sicilian client, as well as the professionals to whom it relied, and the expressions chosen by the aristocracy for their self-representation, showing their evolution with a tight chronological order. .Starting from some recent works on the development of Palermitan noble residences, and collecting the main periegetic literature, the study focused attention on those environments in the Baroque context, drawing results that deny the use in Sicily of such environments very late.Constant comparisons with contemporary Italian, English and above all French examples made it possible to give adequate weight to each intervention and, at the same time, showed the international openness of this client.The exhibition exhibits some topical examples of different trends between Baroque and Neoclassicism, starting with the palaces of the Prince of Cutò, perhaps the first example in the city, and of the Prince of Gangi, with the only example still existing in excellent condition, which allows appreciate the elegance and refinement conferred in that room, not inferior to the other reception rooms of the noble mansions.The role of the client is very important due to the needs expressed between living according to the uses considered "modern" or traditional ones, reaching up to the assignment given by the Bourbons to the architect Marvuglia for the Real Casina alla Cina where he perfected a mechanical table taken from French prototypes once again.During the nineteenth century the evolution of the à manger room becomes very interesting in the approach taken care of by the bourgeoisie and the nobility with new buildings or in the renewal of the ancient eighteenth-century buildings that are adapted to the new functional needs with adequate artistic-decorative equipment .