Information

The collection of drawings by Dutch and Flemish masters conserved at the Biblioteca Reale of Turin comprises more than 320 works from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. The collection is unique in Italy because of its quality and the importance of the represented artists.

Although there are no records attesting to the provenance of the collection with certainty, its initial documentation, the characteristics of the cardboard supports and the collector’s stamps attached to the drawings make it presumable that at least the main collection came to the library at the end of 1839 when King Charles Albert of Savoy (1798–1849) purchased the collection of Giovanni Volpato (1735–1803).

The most considerable part of the collection is comprised of Dutch prints from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, in particular works signed by Rembrandt and numerous students and frequenters of his studio who picked up and interpreted the master’s artistic idiom in their works. Equally important is the Flemish collection, with outstanding works by Van Dyck, Jordaens and Rubens’ circle.

Giuseppina Mussari, Director (April 2022)