La Royal Library of Turin preserves precious medieval illuminated manuscripts – among which the luxurious missals of Duke Amedeo VIII are a valuable testimony – elegant portolan charts, rare incunabula, splendid scenic albums designed by Giovanni Tommaso Borgonio, seventeenth-century naturalistic atlases – unique specimens for content and quality – belonging to Duke Carlo Emanuele I. The Theatrum Sabaudiae, published in Amsterdam in 1682, bears witness to the desire of the Dukes of Savoy to entrust the press with the dissemination of the magnificence of the capital, residences, and their territory represented in vividly colored plates with strong visual impact.
Of exceptional value is the Library’s graphic collection, acquired by King Carlo Alberto in 1839, composed of drawings by great Italian and foreign masters from the 14th to the 18th century and made extraordinary by the presence of thirteen autograph sheets by Leonardo da Vinci. Since 1998, in the Leonardo Hall, created with the contribution of the Consulta per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Artistici e Culturali di Torino, precious bibliographic and historical-artistic material is displayed on rotation according to a precise policy of enhancing the owned heritage.
