With the documentary exhibition Palazzo Reale: war damage and restoration. A story in images from 1943 to the 1950s, curated by the architect Stefano Gei and the art historian Antonella Delli Paoli, a new exhibition space was inaugurated today, created from the opening of the connection between the Cortile d'Onore and the Cortile delle Carrozze , until now used for technical functions and as a deposit, redeveloped and renamed 'Androne delle Carrozze'.

In this way, a historical space of the Palace, until now used for technical functions and as a deposit, is returned to public use, restoring the nineteenth-century connection between the two courtyards.

For the occasion, a rich selection of reproductions of historical photos will be exhibited that retrace the events of the Royal Palace in the years of the Second World War and in those immediately following it: from the damage caused by the explosion of the military ship Caterina Costa , anchored in the port loaded with ammunition and exploded in March 1943, to the bombings which caused damage to the facades, roofs and historic rooms such as the Theater and the Chapel; from the establishment of the Welfare Club for the allied military, which led to further tampering and damage, up to the extensive restoration work which was completed in the 1950s, when the Historic Apartment was reopened to the public.

The war damages are witnessed by over one hundred high-impact photographic reproductions from some of the most important Neapolitan photographic archives (Superintendency, Fire Brigade and Archivio Parisio), as well as the long and massive restoration works begun at the end of the conflict are documented from a selection of reproductions of the drawings conserved in the archive of the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Municipality of Naples.

Also on display are reproductions of photos and documents from the US National Archives and Records Administration and the Allied Control Commission in Washington (copies kept in the Central State Archives of Rome), including the plan of the Historic Apartment with the Welfare project Club (1944), already known but proposed here for the first time in its integral configuration.