The Royal Palace of Caserta has opened an Art Bonus fundraising campaign for the conservation and restoration of its Biblioteca Palatina. The planned intervention has an estimated total cost of €220,874.66 and is intended to be funded through the Art Bonus scheme.

The project includes three components: conservation-restoration of 150 books and documents, dusting of the full collection, and targeted pest control of the historic furnishings and bookcases.

A historic library on the museum route

The Biblioteca Palatina is part of the museum route in the Royal Palace complex in Caserta, at Piazza Carlo di Borbone. It holds approximately 15,000 valuable volumes in historic shelving and furnishings.

Among the collection are the first original edition of Luigi Vanvitelli's 1756 publication on the designs of the Royal Palace of Caserta and original correspondence from his letters dated 1751–1768.

The library's formation was initiated by Queen Maria Carolina. Its collection was later expanded during the French period through acquisitions commissioned by Carolina Murat.

Why conservation is needed

The palace identifies climate-related changes and resulting variations in thermo-hygrometric parameters as risks to the preservation of the collection.

The announced work responds directly to that risk: treatment for selected books and documents, cleaning across the entire holdings, and pest-control measures focused on the furniture and bookcases that house them.

What the Art Bonus funding will support

According to the palace announcement, the €220,874.66 project includes three components:

  • Conservation-restoration of 150 books and documents
  • Dusting of the entire collection of around 15,000 volumes
  • Targeted pest control for historic furniture and bookcases

The announcement does not state a fundraising deadline or the amount already raised. It also does not provide a detailed timetable for the restoration, dusting, or pest-control work, specify the individual 150 items selected for treatment, or set out the technical conservation methodology and expected completion date.

Readers interested in contributing can refer to the Art Bonus listing for the Reggia di Caserta, which identifies the palace and describes the Biblioteca Palatina as part of the Royal Palace museum route.