Museo della Fabbrica is a permanent exhibition that serves as an introduction not only to the Appartamento di Etichetta but to the entire monumental complex of the Palazzo Reale di Napoli.
Located on the ground floor, with access from the Cortile d’Onore, next to the visitor reception area, the museum tells the story of the palace through artworks and audiovisual installations. The first three sections offer a multimedia journey through the palace’s history, from the Viceroyal period to the Bourbon reign and the Napoleonic era. The exhibition combines artworks (paintings, views, and fresco fragments) with screens displaying additional visual testimonies and portraits of key historical figures, accompanied by texts in Italian and English.
The central space immerses visitors in the 19th-century reconfiguration of the palace. The highlight of this section is the extraordinary 19th-century architectural models created by Antonio Niccolini and Gaetano Genovese, restored for the occasion and displayed in a suspended installation that allows observation from multiple perspectives. The oldest model is the Plastico del Palazzo Reale Nuovo e Vecchio e del Teatro di San Carlo by Antonio Niccolini (1811), while the other four were designed by Gaetano Genovese around 1840: the Model of the Grand Staircase (composed of two assembled models), the T-Room Model, and the Model for the Fountain of the Cortile d’Onore.
The next section, dedicated to the Kingdom of Italy, features a series of busts of kings and queens, concluding with that of Vittorio Emanuele III of Savoy.
The museum visit concludes with an immersive installation: a narrow corridor evoking the dramatic years of World War II and the bombings that severely damaged the palace.
Admission to the Museo della Fabbrica is included in the entrance ticket to the Appartamento di Etichetta of the Palazzo Reale.