Michelangelo sculpture at the Year of Italian culture

FLORENCE, ITALY – Year of Italian culture in the U.S. opens in Washington. Italy’s foreign affairs minister will inaugurate The Year of Italian Culture in the United States event Wednesday with the loan of a Michelangelo sculpture to a major American gallery.

Giulio Terzi will open the year-long event at Washington’s prestigious National Gallery of Art by unveiling the famous David-Apollo sculpture by Michelangelo.

It has been residing in Florence’s Bargello sculpture gallery and last traveled to Washington’s National Gallery in 1949 for the inauguration of United States President Harry S. Truman.

Italy’s year of culture in the U.S. will involve more than 180 events in 40 American cities, with the goal of presenting Italian historical and artistic traditions as well as its more innovative efforts. Wednesday, Terzi will also attend the official release of a book on the history of Italy’s embassy in Washington.