5 Must-See Artworks In Turin Italy

Turin has played, and continues to play, an important part in the narrative of modern art history in Italy. For example, it was the first Italian city to foster a public collection of modern art as part of its Civic Museum, in 1863. As a result, the city’s leading galleries and museums house impressive collections. Here are five masterpieces and where to find them.

Andrea Gastaldi, Pietro Micca (1858), GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

This painting depicts Pietro Micca, a Piedmontese artillery soldier who became a national hero for his military service during the French siege of Turin in 1706. During the siege, Micca orchestrated an explosion that meant sacrificing his own life in order to protect a key entry point of Turin’s citadel. The patriotic heroism of this soldier quickly became legendary, and during the 19th century in particular, iconography was widespread. Micca was the 19th-century poster boy of sovereign allegiance during the reign of Charles Albert of Sardinia and in the context of Italy’s First War of Independence. Artist Andrea Gastaldi’s painting is perhaps the most famous depiction of the hero. Gastaldi captures Micca moments before he sets fire to the mine of the citadel. The arrangement is idealistic and moral – amid the dingy mine, the soldier is cast in light as he kneels in servitude with an upward gaze. This painting is as evocative as it is historically interesting.
GAM, via Magenta, 31, Turin, Italy +39 011 442 9518

Andrea Gastaldi, ‘Pietro Micca’ (1858) on view at GAM Turin

1. Michelangelo Pistoletto, Venere degli stracci (1967), Castello di Rivoli

Building, Museum

Michelangelo Pistoletto (b. 1933) is one of the great exponents of the Arte Povera movement that rose to prominence in Italy at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s. In this work, a reproduction of a classical sculpture of Venus stands before a mound of rags and old clothes. The elegant white statue alludes to the purity and erudition of classical world, which is at odds with the chaos of contemporary culture as represented by the colourful heap of fabric. This dichotomy functions as a critique of Italy’s supposed outdated and elitist high culture. Venere degli stracci is one of the artist’s most iconic sculptures and at the time, captured the sentiment of the western world’s 1968 aesthetic and political revolution.