Paola D'Agostino, Royal Museums of Turin Director - Musei Reali di Torino
Director of the Musei Reali di Torino
Photograph by Giuliano Berti
for the Royal Museums of Turin
Courtesy Musei Reali di Torino
Palazzo Reale di Torino
Photograph by Daniele Bottallo
for the Royal Museums of Turin
Courtesy Musei Reali di Torino
Photograph by Andrea Guermani
for the Royal Museums of Turin
Courtesy Musei Reali di Torino
Photograph by Dario Fusaro
for the Royal Museums of Turin
Courtesy Musei Reali di Torino
Following the completion of the appointment procedures, Dr. Paola D'Agostino took up office as Director of the Royal Museums of Turin on 1 October 2025 .
Paola D'Agostino takes over the prestigious role held by Enrica Pagella from December 1, 2015, to November 30, 2023, and, following the recognition of the Royal Museums as a first-tier state museum, by Mario Turetta, Head of the Department for Cultural Activities of the Ministry of Culture, as Deputy Director.
An art historian and specialist in Italian Renaissance and Baroque sculpture, she graduated and obtained her PhD from the University of Naples “Federico II”, with specializations at the Courtauld Institute of Art and University College London. From 2015 to 2024 she led the Bargello Museums in Florence and boasts extensive curatorial experience abroad, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as a Senior Research Associate in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, to the Yale University Art Gallery, as the Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator in European Art .
In her first words as Director, Paola D'Agostino declared : “ I am very honored to begin my new role as Director of the Royal Museums of Turin, which, with their monumental heritage, extraordinary art and archaeological collections, Library, and Royal Gardens, constitute one of the most prestigious museum complexes in Italy and the world. Over the last ten years, the Royal Museums have experienced extraordinary growth, thanks to the two high-profile directors who preceded me. It is a privilege to contribute to the cultural project and to the valorization of these places and of the Savoy dynasty, which designed them, enriched them with masterpieces, and modified them over time .”
" Walking through the monumental halls of the Royal Palace ," continued Paola D'Agostino, " wandering through the spaces of the Manica Nuova with its diverse collections, stopping in the Royal Library, or strolling through the Royal Gardens gives a sense of the centrality of the Royal Museums to the city. These halls convey not only the cultural and political history of Turin and Piedmont, but also the unique history of Italy and its extraordinary cultural heritage ."
Paola D'Agostino - Biographical notes
Paola D'Agostino is an art historian specializing in Italian Renaissance and Baroque sculpture. She studied at the University of Naples Federico II, where she received a PhD in art history in 2003. She specialized in London, at the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA, 1998) and University College London (MPhil program, 1998–1999). While studying in London, she collaborated on the exhibition Earth and Fire. Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova , at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2001–2002).
He taught for several years as a contract professor of modern art history at several Italian universities and held seminars at British and American universities.
From 2009 to 2013, she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as a Senior Research Associate in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts . During her tenure at the Metropolitan Museum, she also helped organize the exhibitions Bernini: Sculpting in Clay (2012–2013) and Antonio Canova: The Seven Last Works (2013). In spring 2013, she was the Cynthia Hazen Polsky/MET Visiting Curator at the American Academy in Rome. From 2013 to 2015, she was the Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator in European Art at the Yale University Art Gallery, where, among other things, she co-curated the exhibition The Critique of Reason: Romantic Art 1760–1860 .
From December 1, 2015, to January 14, 2024, she served as Director of the Bargello Museums, a museum group that includes the Bargello National Museum, the Medici Chapels Museum, the Orsanmichele Complex, the Palazzo Davanzati Museum, and the Casa Martelli Museum. During her tenure, these five museums underwent extraordinary work on their monumental buildings—among the oldest and most important in Florence—including collection reorganizations, experimental restorations, research agreements with Italian and international universities, and exhibitions, with prestigious international collaborations from the National Gallery in Washington, to the Museums of Berlin, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
During her tenure as Director of the Bargello Museums, the Bargello National Museum was awarded the 2017 medal by the President of the Italian Republic, Hon. Sergio Mattarella, for organizing the exhibition "The Factory of Beauty. The Ginori Manufactory and its People of Statues." She was responsible for organizing the Bargello Museums' exhibition " Donatello. The Renaissance," curated by Francesco Caglioti, co-organized by the Bargello Museums and the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation. The exhibition received the prestigious Apollo Award in London for best exhibition of 2022.
Since 2023, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the IMT School of Advanced Studies in Lucca.
In 2024 she collaborated on the “AD Arte Project – national platform of services for the accessibility of cultural sites”, for the General Directorate of Museums of the Ministry of Culture and from January to June 2025 she was Robert Lehman Visiting Professor at Villa I Tatti – The Harvard Center for Renaissance Studies.
On July 17, 2025, she was selected as Director of the Royal Museums of Turin, following an international competition by the Ministry of Culture for five Directors of national museums and archaeological parks.
ROYAL MUSEUMS OF TURIN
MUSEI REALI DI TORINO
Piazzetta Reale 1 – 10122 Torino – Italia
