In a little modernist fantasy of a penthouse, atop a huge commercial building in southern Turin, you’ll find an art museum like no other. It’s called the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, and the penthouse is known as the Scrigno – “jewel box” or “treasure chest”. The collection is small – just 25 pieces – but the quality is astonishing. Among the paintings are six superb views of Venice by Canaletto, masterpieces by Giambattista Tiepolo, Manet, Renoir and Matisse, and even two pictures by Picasso. Modigliani’s famous Reclining Nude is there as well, along with a couple of statues by Canova. My first visit there was just before Christmas last winter.
I rode the escalator from the building’s ground-floor entrance to the first floor, walked down a wide corridor lined with shops, found a rather obscure side passage leading to a small lift, and pushed the button for the top floor.