Pilgrimage of Russian Art
Pilgrimage of Russian Art

Pilgrimage of Russian Art

From Dionysius to Malevich

20 November 2018 – 16 February 2019
Braccio di Carlo Magno

An exhibition event that, after two years, once again brings two museum institutions together: the Tretyakov National Gallery in Moscow and the Vatican Museums.
Open to the public from Tuesday 20 November, and arranged in Bernini’s Braccio di Carlo Magno in Saint Peter’s Square, “Pilgrimage of Russian Art. From Dionysius to Malevich” closes the cycle that was opened by the exhibition “Roma Aeterna”, which from 2016 to 2017 hosted in the Russian gallery 42 works from the permanent collection of the Vatican Pinacoteca. If at the time it was an exceptional loan without precedent, today, in line with and continuing that successfully launched dialogue, the Muscovite gallery is responding with equal generosity by sending to the Vatican 54 works from the renowned Gallery and other Russian museums, many of which have never before left their usual locations.

The exhibition project is curated by Arkadi Ippolitov, Tatiana Udenkova and Tatiana Samoilova, with the ambitious aim of presenting the cultural and spiritual message of Russian art in the heart of the western Christian world because, as confirmed also by the director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, “Beauty creates bridges, brings different cultures together and makes us all brothers. The successful artistic collaboration between the Vatican and Russia continues today with another exchange – a bridge, in fact – that will enable many visitors to the Vatican to appreciate great Russian painting spanning over six centuries”.
The promoters of the exhibition, aside from the Vatican Museums and the Tretyakov Gallery, are the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, with the generous support of Alisher Usmanov’s Art, Science and Sport foundation.