The Galleria Sabauda in Turin opened its reinstalled galleries of Flemish and Dutch paintings earlier this year. In May, the Royal Museums of Turin reopened the presentation of the collection of Prince Eugene of Savoy on the second floor of the new wing of the Royal Palace.

The Galleria Sabauda (Savoy Gallery), part of the Royal Museums of Turin, is home to one of the most important collections of Flemish and Dutch paintings in Italy in terms of chronological range and variety of styles. This collection has developed over time thanks to the Savoy family’s constant attention to Northern European art. Since the fifteenth century, the Duchy of Savoy has enriched its collections with works by northern artists, many of whom were also active at the Savoy Court.

The new installation, curated by Annamaria Bava and Sofia Villano, presents more than 180 works, some of which have been in storage for years. The presentation begins with Flemish painting of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a particular strength of the collection. The first two rooms include well-known Flemish Primitives, such as Jan van Eyck’s famous panel The Stigmata of St. Francis, as well as paintings by Rogier van der Weyden (A Worshipper at Prayer and The Visitation) and Hans Memling’s Scenes from the Passion of Christ. Sixteenth-century painting is represented by Bartholomeus Spranger and Bernard van Orley, among others.

Another section highlights the Savoy family’s passion for Dutch and Flemish painting of the seventeenth century. The centerpiece of this display is a display dedicated to Rembrandt and his followers, which includes his Sleeping Old Man, an early work by the master and one of the few autograph paintings by the Dutch artist in Italian public museums. Another part is dedicated to Leiden fijnschilders, including Gerrit Dou and his pupil Frans van Mieris, Godfried Schalken and Caspar Netscher. Seventeenth-century Flemish painting is mainly represented by portraits of members of the nobility and upper middle class by painters associated with the school of Rubens and Van Dyck, such as Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis de Vos, and Jan Cornelisz van Loenen.

The exhibition ends with works from the Italian schools of the seventeenth century and a final room dedicated to Italian women artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

A selection of photos of the reinstalled galleries, all courtesy of the Royal Museums of Turin and Daniele Bottallo.