Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata has opened 2013—The Year of Italian Culture by unveiling Michelangelo’s David-Apollo, which will be on view in the West Building’s Italian galleries from December 13, 2012, through March 3, 2013.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564) David-Apollo, c. 1530 marble Museo Nazionale del Bargello – Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino
First displayed at the Gallery in 1949, this rare marble statue from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, is now among the renowned masterpieces—ranging from classical and Renaissance to baroque and contemporary—that Italy is bringing to some 70 U.S. museums and cultural institutions in 2013. The Gallery will also display The Dying Gaul (1st or 2nd century AD) from the Capitoline Museum, from October 2013 through February 2014, as part of The Dream of Rome, a project initiated by the mayor of Rome to exhibit timeless masterpieces in the United States from 2011 to 2014.
2013—The Year of Italian Culture is a project launched by Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. This program will showcase the best of Italian arts and culture in some 70 U.S. cultural institutions across America in more than 40 major cities, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington. The initiative will highlight research, discovery, and innovation in Italian culture and identity, focusing on art, music, theater, cinema, literature, science, design, fashion, and cuisine.
The David-Apollo first visited the National Gallery of Art more than 60 years ago, as a token of gratitude for postwar aid and to reaffirm the friendship and cultural ties that link the peoples of Italy and the United States. The masterpiece’s installation here in 1949 coincided with Harry Truman’s inaugural reception. During the next six months the sculpture was seen by more than 791,000 visitors. In 2013, a new generation of visitors to the National Mall around the time of another inauguration—Barack Obama’s second—will also have the chance to view the David-Apollo.
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