From Botticelli to Mucha: an exhibition in Turin on beauty and seduction in art

From April 17 to July 27, 2025, the Sale Chiablese of the Royal Museums of Turin will host an exhibition dedicated to the representation of beauty in art from the classical era to the early 20th century. The exhibition From Botticelli to Mucha. Beauty, Nature, Seduction, curated by Annamaria Bava and produced by the Royal Museums of Turin and Arthemisia, offers an itinerary that spans centuries of art history, bringing works from different periods and styles into dialogue. More than 100 masterpieces, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and art objects, come from the Royal Museums of Turin, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, the Salce Institute in Treviso and other prestigious public and private collections. The exhibition is divided into eleven thematic rooms, creating connections between different art forms, all of which share harmony and elegance. The journey into beauty begins with the figure of Venus, a symbol of love and aesthetic perfection. Two masterpieces are compared: Sandro Botticelli ’s Venus from the Sabauda Gallery, and Lorenzo di Credi’s Venus, on loan from the Uffizi Galleries. The mythological theme continues with the figure of Helen of Troy, represented in paintings, tapestries and sculptures that enhance her role as an emblem of femininity in Western culture.

A special in-depth study is devoted to the Three Graces, daughters of Zeus and the embodiment of elegance and harmony, portrayed in three precious drawings by Antonio Canova preserved in the Royal Library of Turin. The influence of the ancient world is also evident in the following sections, where classical sculptures and drawings with grotesques dialogue with Renaissance paintings in which nature and references to antiquity play a central role. The exhibition then explores the appeal of nature as a source of artistic inspiration. Two rooms are devoted to the Albums of Flowers, Fishes and Birds from the Royal Library, a testament to the wonder that biodiversity aroused in centuries past. Alongside these, a series of Renaissance paintings presents enchanting landscapes that provide a backdrop for sacred and allegorical figures. The focus then shifts to the female universe, with works interpreting beauty as virtue. These include Luca Longhi’s Lady with a Unicorn, a painting from Castel Sant’Angelo. The feminine ideal of the period is also told through the Muses, with canvases by Antiveduto Gramatica and a precious copper by Giovanni Battista Naldini. The exhibition also includes a striking series of Sibyls, made by Orsola Maddalena Caccia, an example of female painting in the 17th century.

The exhibition continues with portraits of ladies and princesses of the Savoy court, queens and historical figures of great charisma. These include the Countess of Castiglione, famous for her enigmatic charm and role as a secret agent, and Queen Margherita of Savoy, depicted in portraits by Michele Gordigiani, made at a time when painting was beginning to confront the rise of photography. The last section of the exhibition introduces interpretations of female beauty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the protagonists are Giovanni Grosso, Carlo Stratta and the sculptor Leonardo Bistolfi, whose works restore the aesthetic taste of an era in which elegance was combined with symbolism. The tour culminates in the refined sensuality ofArt Nouveau with works by Alphonse Mucha, a master of the movement, and Cesare Saccaggi’s painting A Babylon (Semiramis), which recently became part of the Royal Museums’ collections. One of the most anticipated new features of the exhibition is the preview presentation of the diagnostic investigations conducted on Botticelli’s Venus of Botticelli from the Gualino Collection. Through the research, it will be possible to discover never-before-seen details about the Florentine master’s painting technique and his afterthoughts during its creation. As a further enrichment of the exhibition, the Biblioteca Reale will host in the new Spazio Leonardo the Volto di fanciulla, an autograph drawing by Leonardo da Vinci dated between 1478 and 1485. This work, considered a preparatory study for the angel of the Virgin of the Rocks preserved in the Louvre, represents a further stage in the dialogue between past and present proposed by the exhibition.

From Botticelli to Mucha: an exhibition in Turin on beauty and seduction in art

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