The 2006 Italian Culture Year in China is set to open with an
exhibition of Italian Renaissance art at the Millennium
World Art Museum in Beijing on January 21.
A total of 86 paintings, sculptures and tapestries of the
Italian Renaissance masters have been delivered to Beijing.
The masterpieces will be on display at an exhibition entitled
"Italian Renaissance Art" at the Millennium?World
Art?Museum of the Millennium Monument in southwest Beijing
from January 21 to April 23.
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Titian are among the masters
whose works will be on display.
Yesterday, A Portrait of a Young Lady by Piero
Pollaiuolo, valued at 500 million yuan (US$61.9 million), was
officially examined and received by the Chinese side. It was the
first artwork to be taken out of dozens of boxes that traveled
10,000 kilometers under strict security from museums in Florence,
Italy.
"In Florence, the artworks are displayed in many museums across
the city, but in Beijing they have been brought together for the
grandest show to be held in China," Wang Limei, director of the
Millennium Museum, said.
The collection is on loan from 12 museums in Florence, Wang
said.
The last consignment of artwork slated for display is expected
to arrive in Beijing tomorrow.
According to Li Shaoping, an official with the Chinese Ministry
of Culture, the Italian Culture Year in China will feature dozens
of other events including an exhibition of avant-garde art from the
Venice Biennale at the National
Museum of China, and opera performances in Beijing and
Shanghai.?
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn January 16, 2006)
