Padiglione R. Privative

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Padiglione R. Privative

Name of Publisher/Creator Identity
Brunner & C. Como

Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca.

Dimensions Description
14 x 9 cm.

Inscription Language
Italian (Language)

Related Built Environment Objects

• Pavilion of the Royal Monopolies (Tobacco)

Descriptive Note Text

This black and white photo postcard hows the Pavilion of the Royal State Monopolies (the government tobacco and salt monopoly administration, part of the Ministero delle Finanze).

The building is a low, single-story exhibition pavilion dominated by a large, ribbed dome that rises from a drum-shaped rotunda projecting forward from the main façade. The dome is capped by an elaborate decorative element that grows progressively more ornate toward the top. At the base of the dome, where it meets the rotunda, a large sculpted eagle with outstretched wings perches atop a scroll-shaped bracket, serving as an emblematic crest for the building.

The rotunda beneath the dome is treated as a semicircular projecting bay, articulated with tall engaged columns bearing scrolled Ionic-type capitals, and pierced by a deep-set arched doorway framed by decorative molding. An inscribed entablature above the entrance reads something to the effect of "Ministero delle Finanze - Direzione Centrale R. Privative," confirming the building's administrative function within the exposition. A short flight of steps leads up to this entrance, flanked by low plantings and a lamppost.

Extending to either side of the central rotunda are long, single-story wings with flat parapet rooflines punctuated by small urn finials at intervals. These wings are treated more simply than the domed centerpiece, with a rusticated or paneled base, rows of tall rectangular windows set within molded surrounds, and decorative cartouches or medallions above each window, along with small quatrefoil or star-shaped ornamental vents set into a frieze band beneath the roofline. Pilasters divide the wings into bays, giving the elevation a rhythmic, symmetrical composition typical of Beaux-Arts exposition architecture.

Current Repository/Geographic Location
Cristina Della Coletta Private Collection (San Diego, USA)

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-PORM-0006