La Royal Library of Turin preserves precious medieval illuminated manuscripts – among which are the valuable testimonies of the luxurious missals of Duke Amedeo VIII – elegant portolans, rare incunabula, splendid scenic albums designed by Giovanni Tommaso Borgonio, seventeenth-century naturalistic atlases – unique specimens for content and quality – that belonged to Duke Carlo Emanuele I. The Theatrum Sabaudiae, published in Amsterdam in 1682, testifies to the willingness of the Dukes of Savoy to entrust the printing with the dissemination of the magnificence of the capital, its residences, and their territory, represented in vividly colored plates with strong visual impact.
Of exceptional value is the graphic collection of the Library, 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 materials are exhibited on rotation according to a precise policy of valorizing the possessed heritage.
