Seicento painting by Legnanino returns to Palazzo Carignano after 300 years

A 17th-century painting, 'Belisario chiede l’elemosina' by Stefano Maria Legnani (known as Legnanino), has returned to Palazzo Carignano in Turin after an absence of 300 years. The work was commissioned around 1697 by Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia-Carignano for the Appartamento di Mezzanotte. It was later taken to Paris by his son Vittorio Amedeo, auctioned in 1743, resurfaced in the early 20th century in France, and acquired by a Florentine family under an attribution to Luca Giordano. After conservation between 2020 and 2021, the painting was purchased by the Residenze reali sabaude on November 3, 2025. It is now on display in the Appartamento di Mezzogiorno until January 6, as a prelude to a new museum route opening this spring. The painting depicts the blind Roman general Belisarius begging, an allegory of the prince's own disability (he was deaf) and resilience. The new route will triple the exhibition space and include accessibility features for hearing and visually impaired visitors.