The T-shaped layout of this Neoclassical-style room stems from the union of two rectangular spaces, divided by Corinthian columns. Created by architect Gaetano Genovese during the renovation of the palace in the 1840s, it served as a junction between the public areas (State Apartments) and the private rooms, which were assigned to the National Library after 1927. The door opposite the entrance gave access to the king’s and queen’s private apartments. Behind one of the doors beyond the columns is the Scalone dei Forestieri (Foreigners’ Staircase), connecting the palace’s various floors and different functions.
The bronze bust on a column, from the Farnese collection, is a portrait of Antinous – the favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian – by the sixteenth-century sculptor Guglielmo Della Porta.