Cavour memorial

First floor

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FIRST FLOOR

“Born in the shadow of the imperial eagle” (M09)

A small imperial-style sitting room evokes the birth of Cavour in Turin on 10 August 1810. Captions and images illustrate the times when Camillo Borghese and his wife Paolina Bonaparte – godfather and godmother of the future statesman – played a decisive role.

“Childhood and adolescence. Camillo Cavour in the military. A stormy heart” (M10)

The portraits and historic objects on display in the room illustrate Camillo Cavour’s youth. Projections evoke the places where the Count was active as an officer of the corps of engineers. His love affairs are summarized by his overwhelming passion for Nina Giustiniani.

“The European scene: the age of travels” (M11-12)

A multimedia installation takes the visitors through the travels of young Camillo, which were an essential tool for the enhancement of his education and a broadening of his cultural horizons on the European scene. The room also features frescos on the vaults, rediscovered during renovation work, and the statesman’s famous travel bag.

“Camillo’s Library: a temple of study”(M13)

In Cavour’s biography the library is the hotbed of ideas, the place of his political-cultural coming of age. Starting from a list of the books owned by the Count, a multimedia set-up highlights the works that contributed to his cultural formation first and to his background as a politician later, virtually extracting them from the library’s bookcase.