Over 100 works by Guercino and contemporary artists, coming from more than 30 important museums and collections – including the Prado and the Monastery of El Escorial – to present the great art of the Emilian Master and at the same time tell the craft and life of painters of the seventeenth century, in a fascinating, large fresco of the art system.

From the important core of the Savoy collections to many other refined and monumental masterpieces by Guercino, a surprising exhibition that, among the novelties, for the first time in 400 years, also reunites the cycle of paintings commissioned in Bologna by Alessandro Ludovisi, future Pope Gregory XV.

In a period of great attention and renewed studies on the work and figure of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri known as Guercino (Cento 1591 - Bologna 1666) and in the wake of the reopening of the Civic Pinacoteca of Cento, stands out the rich exhibition that the Royal Museums of Turin - with Director Mario Turetta, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture - present in the Chiablese Halls from March 23 to July 28, 2024, produced by CoopCulture with Villaggio Globale International. A spectacular and highly original event curated by Annamaria Bava of the Royal Museums and Gelsomina Spione of the University of Turin, with a prestigious scientific committee, including: Daniele Benati, David García Cueto, Barbara Ghelfi, Francesco Gonzales, Fausto Gozzi, Alessandro Morandotti, Raffaella Morselli, Sofia Villano.

At the center of the exhibition is the painter's craft in the seventeenth century exemplified by one of the major protagonists of the artistic scene of the time. Tracing themes and aspects that run through the entire career of the Master, thanks to major masterpieces, the exhibition aims to give a more general account of the painter's profession at that time: the challenges of the craft, production systems, workshop organization, market dynamics and commissions, the most requested subjects.

Starting from the significant core of paintings and drawings belonging to the collections of the Galleria Sabauda and the Royal Library, over a hundred works by the Emilian Master and contemporary artists such as the Carracci, Guido Reni and Domenichino – coming from more than 30 important museums and collections, including the Prado Museum in Madrid and the Monastery of San Lorenzo in El Escorial – will give life to a large fresco of the art system in the seventeenth century, guided by the talent of that monster of nature and miracle to be amazed at that was Guercino, according to the definition given by Ludovico Carracci, impressed by his talent.