Over 180,000 people visited the Tokyo exhibition ‘Michelangelo and the ideal body’ in the three months that it was on display. The exhibition was organised by the Japanese editorial giant NHK in partnership with ‘Mondo Mostre’ and with the sponsorship of the Italian Embassy.
Hosted in the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno Park, the exhibition’s itinerary offered an innovative and spectacular narration of the evolution of the concept of beauty from the Middle Ages all the way through to Michelangelo’s ideal body.
From 18 June to 24 September, Japanese visitors had the opportunity to admire first-hand the David-Apollo and the young Saint John the Baptist along with 70 works from Italian and European museums. The almost 2,100 people that crowded the museum halls every day included the many personalities from Japan’s world of politics, business and the media who accepted the Embassy’s invitation.
On 16 October, in an ideal passing of the torch from the exhibition on Michelangelo, the same museum in Ueno Park will open an exhibition on Rubens’s Italian landscapes with a special focus on his years of training in Italy and with most of the works displayed coming from Italian museums. The exhibition’s main theme is the influence of Italy on one of the greatest Baroque artists.
(Ambassador Giorgio Starace at the inauguration)
