Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli

The Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli occupies Renzo Piano's glass-and-steel gallery above the former FIAT Lingotto factory in Turin. Its collection brings paintings and sculpture into dialogue with the city's industrial architecture.

Why it matters

The gallery joins the private collection of Giovanni and Marella Agnelli with the history of Lingotto, one of Turin's defining industrial sites. The suspended Scrigno structure created by Renzo Piano places a small collection of historic works within the transformed factory complex.

What to notice

The collection includes two plaster models by Antonio Canova, Venetian views by Canaletto and Bernardo Bellotto, paintings by Henri Matisse and a Futurist work by Giacomo Balla on the speed of the automobile. The gallery's glass and steel structure and its position above the former factory make the industrial setting part of the museum's architecture.

Context and history

Lingotto was built as FIAT's flagship factory and included a rooftop test track for finished cars. The Agnelli collection was placed on public display there in 2002 as part of the site's conversion led by Renzo Piano. Later work integrated the former track into a wider artistic landscape, while the permanent collection remains a core part of the gallery.