Five centuries of art are represented in Shanghai in the exhibition “Masters. From the Renaissance to the nineteenth century”. The initiative has the patronage of the Embassy of Italy in China, the Consulate General in Shanghai, and the Municipality of Bergamo, as well as the support of the Italian Cultural Institute and the ICE Office in Shanghai, and is the result of a solid collaboration between the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, the Bund One Art Museum, and Arthemisia. At the inauguration, the Italian Ambassador Luca Ferrari underlined that “this exhibition represents a wonderful example of the richness and versatility of the Italian genius. In a phase that is still strongly marked by the pandemic, our Chinese friends will thus be able to sample something from Italy, directly here in Shanghai”. For his part, the Italian Consul General Michele Cecchi observed “Shanghai is the dynamic laboratory for a myriad of interactions and relations with Italy. Culture is confirmed as the main vehicle for enhancing appreciation of the uniqueness of our country”. A heritage, he added, which “is the basis of our know-how, the creativity of Italy, the expression of a culture of knowledge that is increasingly loved in China, as is shown by the growing interest in all forms of art and in the Italian lifestyle, and is also reflected by the increase in our exports. That is why this exhibition is a great opportunity for integrated promotion, in the build-up to the 2022 Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism.” The exhibition, said Giorgio Gori, the Mayor of Bergamo “presents to the general Chinese public a selection of painted works of outstanding quality, with a particular focus on the Italian Renaissance, and thus makes possible the meeting of two civilisations that are thousands of years old – the civilisation of which contemporary Italy is the heir and the civilisation that led to the present-day People’s Republic of China, the admiration of the world; this occasion gives them both a unique opportunity for contact and reciprocal understanding.” The exhibition, which is open to the public from today until 03 January 3, 2022, traces five centuries of art history from the mid-fifteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, in 54 paintings selected from the Accademia Carrara collection and exhibited at the Bund One Art Museum, in a space measuring about 2000 square metres. It includes a series of works by the great masters including Raphael, Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Lorenzo Lotto, and Hayez.
