Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria and Hermitage Museum Sign Four-Year Agreement

The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria in Perugia has signed a historic four-year agreement with the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, marking a major post-lockdown cultural synergy. The accord, also involving the Umbria Region, the Municipality of Perugia, and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia, aims to promote study, research, and dissemination of cultural heritage related to the collections of both institutions. The collaboration builds on previous exchanges, including the 2018 loan of the Annunciation from the Polittico di Sant'Antonio by Piero della Francesca for a major exhibition in Saint Petersburg, and the loan of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna Benois from the Hermitage to Perugia. The Hermitage holds over 10,000 Italian artworks, including a significant collection of Etruscan antiquities from Perugia, Orvieto, and other Umbrian sites. Planned activities include reciprocal loans, research on Central Italian painting, internships, conferences, publications, scholarships, and exhibitions. The program will be directed by Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky and Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria director Marco Pierini. The agreement also supports the establishment of an International Documentation Center on Perugino in Perugia, with the Hermitage invited to appoint a representative to its scientific committee. Marco Pierini thanked the regional and municipal partners, as well as Maurizio Cecconi, Secretary General of Ermitage Italia, for driving the accord.