The church of Gran Madre di Dio is a Neoclassic-style church located on the western bank of the Po River, facing the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele I leading into Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
The church was conceived in 1814, after the defeat of Napoleon, to celebrate the return to the throne of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia from the Savoia family, after a 16 years long exile. The municipality immediately suggests to celebrate this return with the building of a monument. The necessity to plan out the spaces, which were recently employed by the fortification and the idea to build a votive temple, have to be seen as a unitary project. Actually, the church has to be the ending to the lengthy vista, which links the Castello Square to the hill. Together with the planning of this Church, a square for the latter also needs to be implanted in the project, which would be a sort of lengthening of the already existing Vittorio Square on the other side of the river. The architect was Ferdinando Bonsignore, whose project was chosen following a competition. Construction began in 1818, only to pause for nearly a decade, and restart in 1827, under the rule of Charles Felix of Sardinia. The church was inaugurated in 1831 under Charles Albert of Sardinia.
Others who contributed to the construction were Giuseppe Formento and the engineer Virginio Bordino. The latter helped raise the columns on the façade. The architect Luigi Canina was consulted during construction. Flanking the entrance staircase, atop two high plinths, are two statues representing Faith (with calyx) and Religion by Carlo Chelli. The tympanum of the church states: ORDO POPVLVSQVE TAVRINVS OB ADVENTVM REGIS, which can be translated as: The Nobility and the Population of Turin for the Return of the King. The church architecture recalls the Pantheon in Rome.The link between the political event with the religious one comes through thanks to the classical metaphors to talk about the religious episodes with a back and forth between religious and political personalities. In front of the church is a statue of a King Vittorio Emanuele I, walking forward, holding a staff in his right arm, the base reads Vittorio Emanuele I/ Re di Sardegna/ Restituito a su Pepolo/il XX Maggio MDCCCXIV/ Ne Coronara/ la Fedeltà secolare.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.