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Botticelli’s Madonna della Loggia graces Russia for first time, adorns EEF 2019

The painting was brought to Russia with the assistance of the Italian embassy in Moscow in cooperation with the prominent Uffizi Gallery, as well as Sberbank and the Roscongress Foundation

© Yuri Smitiuk/TASS

VLADIVOSTOK, September 3. /TASS/. Sandro Botticelli’s Madonna and Child (Madonna della Loggia) painting has been exhibited in a Sberbank office in the Far Eastern Federal University situated on the Russky Island where the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is held, the forum’s official organizer Roscongress Foundation told reporters on Tuesday.

The painting was brought to Russia for the first support with the assistance of the Italian embassy in Moscow in cooperation with the prominent Uffizi Gallery, as well as Sberbank and the Roscongress Foundation.

"Participants and guests of the fifth EEF can see the Madonna della Loggia painted by Sandro Botticelli, an Italian Renaissance painter. The masterpiece was brought to Russia for the first time from Florence’s Uffizi Gallery collection. The painting will be exhibited in the Sberbank office on September 3-5," the statement reads.

Sberbank’s brand manager Alexandra Medelskaya told TASS that special conditions, particularly microclimate, had been organized for the painting. "All conditions are established to exhibit the painting. <…> The painting travels and is exhibited in a special climate box because it is a tempera on panel work, it is very delicate and is not exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery, it is stored in its fund," she said adding that the pavilion where the painting has been hung the conditioning system was adjusted and excessive light was removed.

According to her, the Primorsky State Art Gallery’s specialists were involved in examining the exhibition site, who provided their conclusions after it was ready to host the painting. "The climate box ensures the microclimate the painting requires, however, all the insurances and agreements were given based on the facility’s report. The painting is insured by a European insurance company," she said, refusing to name the insurance amount.

After the forum, the painting will stay in the Russian Far East, the Primorsky State Art Gallery in Vladivostok until November 6, when it will be delivered to the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburd to be seen on November 17 - February 16, 2020.

The Madonna della Loggia, tempera on panel work, is one of Botticelli’s early works (1467). It depicts Madonna holding the child with a balcony in the background.

The fifth Eastern Economic Forum, organized by the Roscongress Foundation, will be held in Vladivostok on September 4-6. Russia’s TASS news agency is the event’s general information partner, the official photo hosting agency as well as moderator of the presentation zone focusing on the Russian Far East’s innovation opportunities.

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