The Art Newspaper

Restoration completed at Turin’s Collegio dei Nobili

Baroque building is home to the Academy of Science and Egyptian museum

By Ermanno Rivetti. Web only
Published online: 28 June 2012

Sala dei Mappamondi (the globe room) in the Accademia delle Scienze, on the first floor of the Collegio dei Nobili, Turin

Six years of restoration work has brought a number of rooms in the Collegio dei Nobili, one of Turin’s most significant examples of baroque architecture, back to their full glory. The Compagnia di San Paolo charitable foundation provided €7.8m ($9.7m) for the project.

The building houses the Accademia delle Scienze, and work was carried out on the ceilings, floors, tapestries and furniture in the academy’s rooms, while the grand staircase, designed by the architect Guarino Guarini, was extensively renovated. The project was overseen by Valerio Corino, an architect from Turin’s architectural soprintendenza (board for cultural heritage).

Work was delayed following a flood in 2009, the result of a faulty fire alarm system, which caused more damage to one of the rooms. The building also houses the Museo Egizio, considered the third most important Egyptian museum after The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, and the British Museum, London.