Sala delle Cariatidi

The Sala delle Cariatidi is a neoclassical ballroom inside the Royal Palace of Milan. Architect Giuseppe Piermarini completed it in 1778 as part of his renovation for Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. The hall measures 46 meters long and 17 meters wide, making it one of the largest palace rooms in Europe.

The room takes its name from 40 caryatid sculptures created by Gaetano Callani. These female figures serve as decorative columns supporting the ceiling. The hall replaced an earlier theater that burned in 1776 and was designed for grand dinners and state functions.

Allied bombing in August 1943 devastated the Sala delle Cariatidi. The damaged caryatids and scorched walls remained unrestored for decades. In 1953, Pablo Picasso chose the war-scarred room to display Guernica, believing the setting reflected the painting's anti-war message. The exhibition ran from September to December and marked the largest Picasso retrospective ever held in Italy.

Restoration began in 1980 and continued until 2008. Today the Palazzo Reale uses the hall for major exhibitions, preserving both its neoclassical grandeur and the visible scars of its wartime history.