Choir stalls, prior’s seat and lectern

Between 1530 and 1540 the abbey of Santa Maria in Staffarda (Cuneo) was fitted with the most stunning furnishings by a patron who can only have been Giovanni Ludovico di Saluzzo, who became abbot in 1510. The rich court of Saluzzo looked both to France, with the last splendours of the Gothic and new currents coming in from northern Europe, and to the classically inspired style brought to Piedmont by sculptors of the Po Valley Renaissance. The Staffarda choir reflects the persistence of Flamboyant Gothic elements from France, though it also includes both Flemish and Italian motifs in a more modern style. In 1846, King Charles Albert had some of the stalls moved to the parish church of Pollenzo. Those that were not used went to the Royal Palace and, in 1871, they were transferred to the Museo Civico. In 1932 the Fratelli Ferraria company carried out a restoration that, in accordance with Vittorio Viale’s wishes, was to be remedial (with new seats, arms, and foot boards), in order to reconstruct the original appearance of the choir, in keeping with the concept of complete period displays of those years.