Art, history and politics intertwine in the great exhibition that the GAM of Turin dedicates to the romantic genius of Francesco Hayez (Venice 1791 - Milan 1882), accompanying the public to discover the artist's world, inside the painter's workshop, to reveal its techniques and secrets. An original journey that compares paintings and drawings , with over 100 works from prestigious public and private collections to which are added some important paintings by the artist kept at the GAM, such as the Portrait of Carolina Zucchi in bed (The Ammalata) and the 'Analing Angel.

Open to the public from 17 October 2023 to 1 April 2024 , the exhibition “ Hayez. The workshop of the romantic painter ” is organized and promoted by Fondazione Torino Musei , GAM Torino and 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE, curated by Fernando Mazzocca and Elena Lissoni , in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera , from which comes an important nucleus of around fifty drawings and some of the most important paintings, many of which were in the studio of the painter, who was professor of painting at the Academy for forty years.

In addition to the unpublished or little-seen works, it will be possible to admire some of the most popular masterpieces on display, such as The Meditation of the Civic Museums of Verona - Achille Forti Gallery of Modern Art and the Secret Accusation of the Civic Museums of the Visconti Castle of Pavia, which is compared Il Consiglio alla Vendetta , a prestigious loan from Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna.

Through ten sections in chronological succession, the exhibition begins from his formative years between Venice and Rome, where Hayez enjoyed the protection and friendship of Canova, up to his first success in Milan and the final tests of his maturity. A special focus section is dedicated to the drawings for the Thirst of the Crusaders, his most ambitious and demanding work, which the painter had planned as his masterpiece, executed between 1833 and 1850 and destined for the Royal Palace of Turin, where it can be still admire. The exhibition recalls the intense biographical story and creative path of the artist, the undisputed protagonist of Romanticism .

" Civil painter ", interpreter of the destinies of the Italian nation, capable of extending the scope of his painting from history to political current affairs , he was also among the greatest portraitists of all time, who was able to interpret the spirit of the of its own era.