Sfida al Barocco. Roma Torino Parigi 1680 – 1750

The exhibition takes visitors on an incredible tour of European art between the late 17th and mid 18th centuries.
This journey towards modernity centres on a direct comparison between Rome and Paris, the two cultural reference points for the whole of Europe, with which Turin wove an extensive web of ideas, exchanging artists and artworks. The chosen timeline marks a lengthy period “compressed” between the traditional historical labels of the Baroque and the Neoclassical, but considered here as an era-defining fulcrum for the new.

Over two hundred masterpieces from the world’s most prestigious museums, public institutions, religious organisations and private collections (from 100 lenders, 55 of them Italian), spectacular paintings and altarpieces, sculptures, tapestries, drawings, engravings, furnishings and precious objects make up this must-see exhibition set in the monumental surroundings of the Citroniera Juvarriana at the Palace of Venaria outside Turin: a wonder of Baroque architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Intesa Sanpaolo, exhibition partner, has also contributed by restoring two artworks as part of its Restituzioni project: Saint Philip Neri commending the city of Turin to the Infant Jesus held by the Virgin Mary, with a cortege of Angels by Francesco Solimena, and a plaster bas-relief sculpted by Bernardino Cametti in 1729: The Blessed Amadeus asks the Madonna of Superga to intercede, property of the Pontificio Collegio Irlandese, Rome.