PRESS RELEASE

Leonardo and the King’s Treasures

The exhibition “Leonardo and the King’s Treasures” – opening on 30 October through to 15 January 2015 at the Royal Library – will be offering Torino’s citizens and visitors a selection of over eighty absolute masterpieces.

The works – the famous Self-Portrait, the Portrait of a Girl, the Codex on the Flight of Birds by Leonardo da Vinci, drawings by Raphael, Carracci, Perugino, Van Dyck and Rembrandt, illuminated manuscripts, sea charts and other graphic works from the valuable collections of the Library – are being displayed in the exceptional Hall designed in 1837 by the court architect Pelagio Palagi and in the two exhibition areas in the basement.

These are the Leonardo Room – created in 1998 by the Council for the Promotion of Arts and Culture in Torino – and the new exhibition area opening today which this exhibition will show at its best.

The new exhibition area has been funded equally by the Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT and the Council. It forms part of a much larger project by the Regional Directorate of MIBACT (Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism) of the Polo Reale of Torino which brings together five previously separate museums into one architectural complex making it possible to relive the entire history of the city and Italy, from its early Roman settlements to the Unification of Italy.

For improved conservation of the collections and to make available the Library’s historical and artistic heritage, the underground store rooms have been fully refurbished, doubling the display space and thus meeting the Library’s role as a museum, a true Wunderkammer, created by Carlo Alberto who was behind very important acquisitions.

The two exhibition spaces have been set up and equipped with the most modern technologies for preservation and display.

The exhibition, run by the City of Torino and Turismo Torino e Provincia, is open from Monday to Sunday from 9am to 6pm. Admission is €12.00, reduced rate of €8.00 for holders of the Torino+Piemonte Card and children aged 6 to 12.

Free for disabled people and their careers, and for children aged up to 5.

Admission to the exhibition is only by booking, and tickets can be purchased by credit card at www.turismotorino.org.

For more information, call 0039-011-535181 from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 2.30pm to 6pm, or send an email to