The 'divine' Guido Reni

The exhibition celebrates i 450 years since its birth by Guido Reni, proposing an exhibition itinerary articulated in the intimate relations between the great Bolognese classicism and Savoy collecting. In Discovery Space the second floor of the Sabauda Gallery, the works dialogue with the cultural history of Piedmontshowing how much importance the Savoy court attached to Reni's artistic model already in the earliest nucleus of the ducal collections.

The first section is dedicated to canvases entries into the Savoy dominions in the early 17th century under the impulse of Cardinal Maurice, who identified in the composed and luminous language of the painter from Emilia an ideal source for the decorative elegance of the Savoy palaces. The second highlights the legacy of Prince Eugene of Savoy-Soissonswhose canvases - later purchased by Charles Emmanuel III in 1741 - became part of the Turin heritage. That section restores the political and symbolic value of art as an instrument of representation.

A further section gathers drawings and graphical sheets from the collections of the Galleria Sabauda and the Royal Library, offering a more intimate and material view of Reni's creative process. At the culmination of the tour, one can admire the youthful painting of the Assumption of the Virginrecently discovered in the church of Abbadia Alpina (Pinerolo, TO) and restored for the occasion. This unpublished work adds an element of discovery and novelty to the exhibition, allowing visitors to grasp the sacred roots of Reni's art in the Piedmontese context.

The route emphasises in particular light, the harmony of forms, e the ideal of beauty that make Reni's work perfectly consistent with court aesthetics and Piedmontese altars. Each painting is contextualised with references to patronage, Savoy residences or sacred spaces where his painting found a significant place.