Silent Halls of European Palaces by Massimo Listri.

Versailles, France, 2003. Photo © Massimo Listri.

Do you like great photography?
I like great photography.
Do you like amazing architecture?
I like amazing architecture.
Do you like it when these things come together?
Of course you do.

Let’s position ourselves behind the lens of Italian photographer Massimo Listri, and through his incredible images peer into the vast, silent halls of European palaces and see if we have any fun.

Palazzo Martelli, Firenze, 2008. Photo © Massimo Listri.

Counter to engrained minimalist design tendencies, I adore this picturesque fresco so much that, were you prepared to let this be my room, you could do whatever you liked to me on that table.

Reggia di Venaria I, Piemonte, 2007. Photo © Massimo Listri.

I’ll say this for Savoyard royalty, they did a cracking downstairs hallway.

Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca I, Firenze, 2008. Photo © Massimo Listri.

…they also did a good job at leaving behind great spaces for art galleries. This is the colossal Palazzo Pitti in Firenze, mid curation. I love it when these grand gestures to the vanity of princes loosen up like this – a bit like catching the Baroque off guard. Magnificent, but that little bit friendlier for having been seen with its daks down.

Stupinigi I, Piemonte, 2007. Photo © Massimo Listri.

And like us all, the House of Savoy had maintenance issues. This glorious back room at their hunting lodge at the Stupinigi (a building visible from space – ‘lodge’ was a relative term) beautifully exhibits what some Woollahra decorators artfully refer to as ‘rich gloom’.

Reggia di Venaria II, Piemonte 2007. Photo © Massimo Listri.

A blank (blanc) calm rarely witnessed in the frothy Baroque concoctions of Italy. This one could be my room too…

Palazzo Reale I, Stockholm, 1998. Photo © Massimo Listri.

From Piedmontese to Gustavian Baroque. We’re in even chillier Stockolm, seeing how the House of Palatinate-Zweibrüken got along for downstairs hallways. Not too bad either if you like that sort of thing.

Castello di Pierrefonds, France, 1995. Photo by Massimo Listri.

Tiens! Pierrefronds is one of those colossal Nineteenth Century restorations of medieval castles (Windsor, Neuschwanstein, Arundel etc) which turned ruins into palaces of fairytale glamour based more in legend than Rigorous Historical Research (which naturally, I do not offer myself). This fed the medievalist fantasies of Emperor Napoleon III. Check out HIS downstairs hallway!

Castello di Friedstein, Gotha, Germany, 1999. Photo © Massimo Listri.

And finally, a peep into Schloss Friedstein in Gotha. I’ve not been here so can’t comment on whether Listri has fiddled with the colours, or if minor German Royalty had batshit crazy taste in colours. Let’s just enjoy it.

Ende.

–Luke.