International events: “In Christ / In Christo”. Cultural exchange of relics between Russia and Italy” project underway in Moscow and Florence

A project “In Christ / In Christo”. Cultural exchange of relics between Russia and Italy. Giotto in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Rublev and Dionisius in the Florence Baptistery” is kicking off on December 20th 2011.

The present display has been organized on the initiative of President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano under the patronage of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia as a part of the Year of Russian culture and Russian language in Italian Republic and Italian culture and Italian language in the Russian Federation.

Being a result of the joint work of representatives of the research centers, museum community, and theological circles, this project has become a unique experience of collaboration between Italian and Russian experts, who made this unprecedented exchange of masterpieces possible in the conclusion of the Russian-Italian Year.

In the famous Baptistery in Florence the State Tretyakov Gallery will present rare pieces of Old Russian art from its collection. They are the monumental “Our Lady Hodegetria”, created in the late 13th century in Pskov, one of the art centers of Ancient Russia, “Ascension” dated 1408 from the festive row of iconostasis of the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, related to the art of the most celebrated Russian icon painter Saint Andrew Rublev, and, finally, “Crucifixion”, painted by Dionisius in 1500, which is a remarkably beautiful representation of theological idea.

As an equal participant of this outstanding project of art, history and theology The State Tretyakov Gallery carefully selected the works for display in Italy, and at the same time carried out serious contemporary scientific and technologic research.

The results of the research, which were accompanied by detailed photography of all stages, have been published in the catalogue of the exhibition project. Therefore the State Tretyakov Gallery presented not only the masterpieces of the national medieval art, but also the most complete knowledge about them.

At the same time in Moscow, in Tretyakov Gallery, another display of works by the great Italian artist Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) will take place. The pieces of the painter, whose name is connected with the Proto-Renaissance Era, will be exhibited for the first time here. They are “Madonna and Child” from the Church San Giorgio alla Costa, painted in the late 13th century, and a double-faced altar complex, which consists of 10 pieces on one pedestal - Polyptych from the Church of Santa Reparata, created around 1305 and rather recently recognized by Italian researchers as a work of Giotto.

The work was attributed to Giotto in part due to the tragedy that took place in 1993, when an explosion rocked the Uffizi gallery and the icon was seriously damaged by fragments of glass. During the painstaking restoration work additional research was carried out, thanks to which it was recognized as a genuine Giotto.

Bringing together Russian and Italian works of art in one joint project like this creates an opportunity for people to view these masterpieces of the European late middle ages in a common context, which is an important step forward in studying the connections and parallels between our cultures.