Although the name “Albertina” is in honour of Carlo Alberto of Savoia thanks to whom the Academy was re-f in 1833, its origins date back much farther. In fact the Academy of Turin is one of the oldest in Italy.

Already in the early 17th century there existed in Turin a “University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects”, which, in 1652, became the “Compagnia di S. Lucia” and in 1678 took the name of Academy, when Maria Giovanna di Savoia-Nemours, widow of Carlo Emanuele II, founded the Academy of Painters, Sculptors and Architects, taking inspiration from the model of the Academie Royale in Paris.

In recent years the Albertina Academy has been ultimately transformed and renewed, promoting countless didactic and cultural activities: the re-organization and re-opening to the public of the Picture Gallery; the restoration of the building and the rationalisation of the internal spaces (still to be completed); numerous exhibitions, conferences, seminars and festivals; a sizeable introduction of computer technology; the institution of new courses of Preservation, Restoration and Graphics.