Office of the President of the Italian Republic

The heart of the presidential rooms is represented by the president's office, where the head of state conducts important institutional and representative events

View of the President's OfficeQuirinale Palace

This room is where the President of Italy carries out meetings with representatives of the parliamentary groups during consultations regarding the formation of government.

The President of Italy also holds official meetings here, particularly meetings with invited heads of state after the presentation of official delegations in the nearby Bronzino Room (Sala del Bronzino).

View of the President's OfficeQuirinale Palace

The office in times gone by

Originally, when the Quirinal Palace was the seat of the pontificates, the room was the Pope's summer bedroom.

During the Napoleonic restyling, it was used as the emperor's dining room, and at the end of the 19th century, King Umberto I turned it into an office, linked to the bedroom in the adjoining Druso Room (Sala di Druso).

View of the ceiling in the President's Study (Studio del Presidente alla Vetrata)Quirinale Palace

Ceiling with frieze

During the Savoy period, the coffered ceiling in Neo-Renaissance style was put back up. It features the Savoy coat of arms and gold ceiling roses.

There is also a frieze from the same period depicting pairs of cherubs bearing shields with the heroic achievements of illustrious members of the House of Savoy.

Chivalric enterprise with elephant - Detail of the frieze (Late 19th century)Quirinale Palace

These include the achievement of EM·FILIBERTUS, which refers to Emanuele Filiberto (1528–1580), the Duke of Savoy, who regained the Savoy Duchy.

Due to his courage and pride, the duke is associated with an achievement featuring an elephant, an animal with a benign temperament, hostile only to those who are resistant.

View of the President's OfficeQuirinale Palace

Office of the Head of State

After the death of Umberto I, this area of the Palace was dedicated to guestrooms for guests of the king and this room was used as a bedroom again.

With the advent of the Republic, the residential functions were removed from the main floor of the Palace and the room became the head of state's office.

President of the Republic's Desk (1750) by French manifactureQuirinale Palace

President's Desk

The desk, in the style of Louis XV, was made in France around 1750. It came from the Palace of Parma.

With the Unity of Italy, it was brought to Rome to furnish the Quirinal Palace, the new residence of the kings of Italy.

The frame is oak and the top is veneered with amaranth, and covered with leaves of this special wood.

The handles of the three drawers and rocaille style decorations are made of gilt bronze. The surface is covered with dark red leather.

View of the President's OfficeQuirinale Palace

Drop-leaf Desk

The office contains many items of furniture, including a drop-leaf desk in walnut root made in Lombardy, which dates back to the mid-18th century.

Triptych with ivory statuettesQuirinale Palace

Triptych

This room also has a small triptych, decorated with ivory sculptures. It is formed of a Calvary scene from the 15th century and an Annunciation and Saints from a later period.

Hunting alt (1753/1775) by Royal Manufacture of TurinQuirinale Palace

Tapestries

There are three tapestries hung on the walls from the Boscarecce series, woven in Turin between 1753 and 1775, and originally intended for the apartment of Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy in the Royal Palace of Turin.

In keeping with the 18th-century artistic style, the tapestries illustrate scenes set in landscapes, with peasants and wayfarers who pass the time with rests and amusement, against a background of charming countryside, trees, and waterways.

Tapestry "The Fishmonger" from the Boscarecce seriesQuirinale Palace

However, the modest straw-roofed houses, irregular palisades, and the branches of trees broken from the winter, bear witness to the hard reality of rural life, which distances these subjects from the more sentimental idyllic-pastoral style.

The fisherman, Boscarecce series (1760/1770) by Royal Manufacture of Turin, atelier of Francesco Demignot, cartoon by Vittorio Amedeo Cignaroli and collaboratorsQuirinale Palace

The tapestry of The Fisherman shows a fisherman catching fish in a river, accompanied by two young ladies with their children.

The background is based on Piedmont, with a wide bright valley intersected by the river with hills, woods, and villages.

It is an idyllic scene which tones down the hard reality of rural life with the popular tone of the Bambocciata painting genre and is interlaced with architectural whims with the inclusion of a small classical temple in disrepair, according to the european 18th-century style desired by Charles Emmanuel III.

View of the Room of Drusus the ElderQuirinale Palace

Adjoining the office is the Hall of Drusus, which serves as an antechamber.

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