The Duke’s accounts

How much did it cost to run a state in the sixteenth century? How were armies, major reforms and public works funded?

Behind the grand history of the House of Savoy lie not only battles, processions and royal palaces, but also budgets, coins, taxes and carefully crafted economic strategies. Decisions from a bygone era that transformed the Duchy of Savoy into a modern state. For behind every coin there is a story, behind every tax a political decision, and behind every state a delicate balance between power, resources and a vision for the future.

Tuesday 29 September at 5.30 pmthe Savings Museum — in collaboration with the Royal Museums of Turin — invites you on a journey through the Turin of Emanuele Filiberto and Carlo Emanuele I to discover how public finances shaped the emergence of the Savoy capital and the consolidation of ducal power.

Through the videos curated by the Museum and a special talk by the historian Andrea Pennini, the event will offer a fresh perspective in which economics, art and power intertwine, demonstrating how the financial decisions of the past still have much to tell us about the present.