End-of-term exhibition for the president of the Albertina, Paola Gribaudo. With a calendar still full of events between now and May 2025, this exhibition brings to a close a triumphant period, especially as far as the Turin institution's picture gallery is concerned.

Engraved Beauty. From the 16th century to the present day concludes an itinerary that began three years ago with the highly successful exhibition (which also landed at the Institute of Italian Culture in New York): Drawing the City, and then continued with the splendour of Beyond the Grand Tour - Orientalisms and Colonial Visions up to today's rediscovery of the most precious treasures of its extraordinary heritage of historical engravings, collected over more than three centuries and normally kept in the vault of the Academy of Fine Arts. As highlighted in the press note and at the inauguration, the rooms of the Pinacoteca Albertina are home to Tiepolo, Piranesi, and the other great masters of graphic art; the first 16th-century engravings of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and other Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces. Signs in time that will accompany the visitor to some contemporary declinations of the role of graphics among the artistic disciplines.

As always, the Art Gallery does not renounce a historical viewpoint (curated by Antonio Musiari) and a contemporary one (curated by Franco Fanelli), playing at home in terms of the comparison between great masters of the past and the significant references of the contemporary production of the School of Graphic Art of the Academy of Fine Arts. Indeed, the present and the future dialogue in the section displaying the artist's books from the Hbitat series, published by Albertina Press and created by a group of students from the Biennio Specialistico coordinated by Sonia Gavazza, while in the last rooms the works of Cornelia Badelita, teacher and artist, dialogue with those of Marco Manzolini, her current student.

A catalogue of rare beauty and richness accompanies the visitor with in-depth information, reproductions of all the works, and a QR code to connect to the film by Professor Amerio (also an Academy lecturer), dedicated to the creation of photo-engraving.

The history of the Academy began in 1652, when the University of Painters, Sculptors, and Architects of Turin obtained from the Archbishop the use of the chapel of Saint Lucy (patron saint of painters), inside the Cathedral of Saint John. This way, the Compagnia di San Luca was created, aggregated to the Roman Academy of the same name. The company continued its activities for over twenty years until, with a document dated 29 August 1678, the Regent Duchess Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy Nemours established the academy of painters, sculptors, and architects to create a center that would be of help to the state and students, following the example of the Académie Royale. Just like the French academy, the diploma gave the right to sovereign protection.

The Constituent Statutes were later, and the foundation of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture is dated 10 April 1778, as part of the cultural renewal policy implemented by Victor Amadeus III. According to his wishes, the school year ran from November to August. It was divided between minor competitions and the ‘grand competition,’ which stipulated that the winning works remained at the Academy. However, it was not until the reign of Carlo Alberto, who issued a series of far-reaching provisions to confirm his political power. Thus, in 1832 he opened the Reale Pinacoteca to the public, appointing Roberto D'Azeglio as director of the art collections of the royal palaces, who thus became the beating heart of future changes, starting from the crucial date of 1833, the year of Charles Albert's donation of the current premises in Via Accademia Albertina.

Also fundamental to the Royal Albertine Academy was the subsequent appointment and impetus given by Ferdinando Arborio Gattinara, Marquis of Breme. The Marquis of Breme decided, in fact, to completely remove the teaching staff of the time and choose teachers who had experience in foreign countries behind them. Following this criterion, he assigned the chair of painting to Gaetano Ferri from Bologna. Vincenzo Vela, on the other hand, was given that of sculpture, thanks to his success with the Turin Monument dedicated to Cesare Balbo. Enrico Gamba was to take the drawing chair, due to his relevant studies in Germany, while the important course of study dedicated to landscape painting was entrusted to Antonio Fontanesi.

Illustrious personalities also characterized the 20th century, with the beginning of the century marked by a minor scandal caused by the failure to assign the chair of sculpture to Leonardo Bistolfi as Tabacchi's successor. A missed opportunity on several fronts, as Bistolfi would certainly have brought great prestige to the Academy, also in view of the 1902 Universal Exhibition in Turin, of which he was an indefatigable promoter. A few years later, in 1906, the celebrated Giacomo Grosso entered the scene, who held painting courses at the Academy for almost thirty years and counted, among his many pupils, also: Boccardo, Onetti, and Alciati. The years around the time of the Second World War were marked, finally, by Felice Casorati; an entirely natural choice, as the painter was already teaching in his very popular atelier in Via Mazzini, Turin.

The Pinacoteca occupies twelve rooms inside the Accademia and has undergone several changes over the decades, mainly due to the damage during the Second World War when the Salone d'Onore was uncovered. The current layout houses about 300 paintings and sculptures and about sixty cartoons by Gaudenzio Ferrari, one of the greatest 16th-century artists in northern Italy. The first nucleus of the museum was created thanks to the bequest of Monsignor Vincenzo Mossi di Morano with a series of paintings belonging to the family. Mossi donated them so that they could inspire and help future students. In his honor, a statue with his likeness was erected in 1831 (now in the atrium of the Academy) by Carlo Marocchetti, who also created the monument to Emanuele Filiberto in Piazza San Carlo.

In addition to the collections, special attention should be paid to the Accademia's Albertina Library (for consultation only), which now possesses around 40,000 volumes, mainly of an artistic nature. Attached to the library are the Drawings and Prints Cabinet, the Photo Library, and the Academy's Historical Archive. The Drawings and Prints Cabinet holds around 5,000 sheets, both loose and bound in various and thematic collections. The collection originates from Carlo Alberto's donation of the current premises and has been constantly enriched over the following centuries. An initial reorganization was carried out by the engraver Giovanni Volpato in the second half of the 19th century, with the addition of 39 volumes of miscellaneous prints.

A priceless heritage that needs to be enhanced for years to come.