The Riding School in the Royal Palace of Naples: Transformations ...

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- the expected re-employment of timber structural elements coming from the dismantling of existing covering system has been possible only in a small part, due to the large degree of deterioration; - the previously designed structure has been strengthened to grant a greater level of security for the underlying riding school, which ought to be used by the royal family. At this scope Niccolini has foreseen to increase the number of trusses to limit their mutual distance, and to use more wrought iron connecting devices, made with the best quality of iron; - moreover, to reduce the danger of fires and prevent the percolation of water from the attic, he has believed it appropriate to build a paving of beaten lapillus over the plank floor leaning on the tie-beams of the trusses. This has caused a large loading increase leading to the necessary enlargement of the cross-section of the tie-beams and introducing supporting timber trestles at their headpieces. Niccolini’s worries about structural stability, which led him to strengthen the previously designed structures, has been also due to the following circumstances: the pre-existing structures ought to be restored only ten years after their construction; the metallic connections in the middle of the tiebeam, which increased the reliability of the structure, could not be realized in the new trusses because it was necessary to leave sufficient free space for the scene equipments and machines; these new items induce a large loading increase. The second part of the document gives a description of the works made inside the riding schools, under the attic, which, in contrast with those described in the first part, were not in charge of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, but of the Royal House. This second estimative metrical evaluation is composed of 96 pages and the total amount is 3 860.22 ducats. Notes on the units of measures The unity of measure used in the document for the economical quantification is the Neapolitan Ducat, which, after the law promulgated on 14 August 1814, was divided in 10 carlines or 100 grana. This subdivision, confirmed by the law of 20 April 1818, was largely in use even after 1861 when with the Royal Ordinance of 17 July 1861, following the unification of the Reign of Italy, the value of the ducat was fixed at 4.25 Italian lira. Up to date value of the Neapolitan ducat is about € 33; so the expense for the works computed in the first part of the document is about € 550 000, while for those in the second part is about € 130 000. Measures of length are given in Neapolitan palms, each palm divided in 12 ounces, and each ounce in 5 minutes. After the introduction of the decimal system the Commission of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Naples, in 1811, fixed the value of the Neapolitan palm in 0.263670 m. 606
Measures of weight, also used to quantify the wrought iron connecting devices, are the cantaro, divided in 100 rolls, and each roll in 1000 trappesi. The same Commission fixed for the cantaro the value of 89.09972 kg, (Salvati 1970). DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW TRUSSES DESIGNED BY NICCOLINI The new covering structure of the Royal Riding School (fig.5), of which Niccolini made the design and directed the construction, consisted of 16 trusses placed interspersed at intervals of 2.95 m between trusses, with a pitches slope of about 39° and a clear span of about 22 m. Figure 5. Plate autographed by Niccolini, showing the new truss The truss scheme shows some significant peculiarities due to the new function which Niccolini must assign to the attic of the riding school. In fact the court scenographer has to face up the need to house the scene machineries of the St. Charles Theatre, mainly consisting of the scenery designed for modern performances, as required by the position reached by the Neapolitan Royal Theatre in the context of the European courts. 607
Page 1 and 2: The Riding School in the Royal Pala
Page 3 and 4: equired staff: pageboys, coachmen,
Page 5 and 6: Figure 2. Model of Naples Royal Pal
Page 7: Figure 4. Front page of the documen
Page 11 and 12: The clear span is the same of that
Page 13 and 14: An evident element thought to stren
Page 15 and 16: As just described, the structure is
Page 17 and 18: Figure 12. Bending moments diagram
Page 19 and 20: Both the calculation schemes analyz

The Riding School in the Royal Palace of Naples: Transformations ...

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