Milan exhibit sheds new light on Renaissance altarpiece, reuniting far-flung panels after centuries
An unprecedented exhibition opening Wednesday at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan reunites for the first time in over 450 years eight surviving panels of the Augustinian Altarpiece by the early Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, while possibly solving one of its enduring mysteries
MILAN (AP) — An unprecedented exhibition opening Wednesday at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan reunites for the first time in over 450 years eight surviving panels of the Augustinian Altarpiece by the early Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, while possibly solving one of its enduring mysteries.
Museums have tried and failed in the past to assemble the remaining eight panels, spread among five museums in Europe and the United States, of the original 30-piece polyptych. They include the Poldi Pezzoli, owner of one panel, in 1996 and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2018.
The Frick Collection in New York, owner of four of the panels, came closest a decade ago, gathering six.
Poldi Pezzoli Museum director Alessandra Quarto succeeded this time, after learning that the owner of four of the pieces, the Frick Collection in New York, would be closed for six months. The Frick Collection agreed to the loan, making it easier to bring on board museums in London, Washington, D.C. and Lisbon.
