On Saturday, 7 March 2026, in the eighteenth-century halls of the Museo Fondazione Accorsi‑Ometto in Turin, the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta Delegation of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George will experience an afternoon steeped in history, art, and beauty dedicated to the figure of Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples and Sicily, on the 310th anniversary of his birth.
On the occasion of this significant anniversary, the Delegation has promoted the arrival and exhibition in the Piedmontese capital of a faithful reproduction of the crown with which the young son of Philip V of Spain (born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, grandson of King Louis XIV) and Elisabetta Farnese was crowned King of Sicily on 3 July 1735 in the Duomo of Palermo.
The contemporary reproduction of the crown was created by Centro Orafo Il Tarì, an institution dedicated to preserving the goldsmithing tradition and promoting the cultural value of jewelry. The artifact, made of gilded silver and weighing 1,405 grams, is decorated with more than three hundred white cubic zirconia stones and is dominated by a large antique-cut amethyst chosen to evoke the famous 42-carat Diamante Viola Farnese that adorned the original.
The work, a faithful copy of the crown unanimously recognized as one of the most fascinating and refined in Europe, will remain on display until 22 March 2026 in the prestigious Hall of Baroque Arts of the Fondazione Accorsi‑Ometto. The initiative forms part of the cultural mission of the Turin museum, which has long been committed to promoting decorative arts and the excellence of Italian craftsmanship.
The exhibition, entitled The Crown of Charles of Bourbon. Art and Royalty for a New European Reality, brings to public attention a symbol of great historical and artistic importance, closely linked to the birth of the Bourbon monarchy in southern Italy and to the extraordinary cultural flourishing promoted by Charles of Bourbon in eighteenth-century Europe.
Alongside the crown, the exhibition also presents important examples of Neapolitan decorative art from the collections of the Accorsi-Ometto Museum, including a pair of silver candlesticks made around 1775 by the goldsmith Francesco Tomaselli, and a refined ceremonial tray in tortoiseshell piqué, donated by Pope Benedict XIV Lambertini to the Piedmontese marquis Leopoldo del Carretto di Gorzegno. These works testify to the artistic and cultural dialogue between Naples and Piedmont during the eighteenth century.
Knights, Dames, Postulants, and friends of the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta Delegation, led by the Delegate, Don Andrea dei Marchesi Serlupi Crescenzi (of the Marquis of Serlupi Crescenzi), Knight of Justice, will visit the exhibition of the Crown of King Charles on Saturday, 7 March 2026, and will participate in an afternoon dedicated to them. The meeting will provide an opportunity to reflect on the life and work of the sovereign who founded the Bourbon dynasty of southern Italy and who left Europe a legacy of extraordinary institutional dignity and cultural splendor.
Thanks to the presence of Ciro Paolillo, professor of Gemmology at Università La Sapienza, the history of the crown—symbol of the new monarchy born with Charles—will be presented, together with the mystery surrounding its disappearance in 1799, when it was loaded onto the HMS Vanguard, flagship of the fleet of Horatio Nelson, bound for Palermo. Professor Paolillo carried out the extensive historical, archival, and iconographic research that led to the creation of this artifact.
This work, of the highest symbolic and artistic value, after its Turin stage, will be officially donated to the Tesoro di San Gennaro in Naples during the charity gala La Corona che si fa Carità, which will take place at the monumental complex of Complesso Monumentale di Santa Chiara in the presence of the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta, Head of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies. The initiative thus represents not only a moment of great cultural significance but also an opportunity to renew the bond between history, art, and charitable commitment that has characterized the action of the Order for centuries, demonstrating how great history can once again become a living presence in the memory and life of communities.
Opening
The opening of the exhibition The Crown of Charles of Bourbon. Art and Royalty in Eighteenth-Century Europe, held on Saturday, 21 February, was accompanied by a lecture by Andrea Merlotti, Director of the Study Center of the Circuito delle Residenze Sabaude, who explored the symbolic meaning of the crown in European monarchies of the modern age. In his presentation he recalled numerous emblematic examples: from the crowns of French sovereigns beginning with Louis XIV to the Napoleonic era, from the crown of Charles II of England to that of the Holy Roman Empire, not forgetting the role of the Habsburg imperial crown and the particular significance of the Iron Crown in Italian history.
