The Palazzo Madama collections have traditionally offered a privileged opportunity for researching Renaissance painting and sculpture in Piedmont: by especially highlighting the lands of the ancient Savoy Duchy, this tradition actually starts from the late Middle Ages, and therefore late Gothic period, with an exceptional interpreter, Giacomo Jaquerio. The tradition from which he derives appears important for most of the 15th century, but soon other styles and approaches began to emerge. Among the first is the transalpine and Northern European culture of the artist Antoine de Lonhy, but toward the end of the century there is also the Central Italian approach of Macrino d’Alba and the style directed more toward Lombard and Po Valley experiences with Giovanni Martino Spanzotti. In fact, this last artist would usher in the most widespread tradition in Piedmont until the mid-1500s, with an absolute protagonist: Defendente Ferrari. Alongside and in parallel to this, in the eastern part of the region the “Vercelli school” began to affirm itself and soon gained its greatest advocate, Gaudenzio Ferrari, whose success would be acknowledged even in the Duchy of Milan. This then led to the work of the artist Guglielmo Caccia called il Moncalvo, represented in the Museum with paintings and several important drawings.
Alongside the regional itinerary, various works distinguish the collections thanks to acquisitions that open up in new directions: Tuscany, with Bronzino, or the Veneto-Po Valley, with Giulio Campi. There is also an absolute masterpiece on exhibit, the Portrait of a Man by Antonello da Messina, one of the greatest icons in Turin’s art collections.
