FLORENCE, ITALY – The Expo 2015 world’s fair has been denied Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation for a show on the Renaissance genius during the May to October event.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said Friday he “respected” the decision by the director of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, Antonio Natali, not to send the celebrated work to the Universal Exposition. He said he “understood” that a loan of the Annunciation on top of 28 other masterpieces the Florentine gallery is sending to various shows during Expo would have left it “bereft of Leonardos during the six-month event.”
The Annunciation is one of 23 Uffizi works officially classed as forbidden to move – though it was loaned to Tokyo in 2007. The April 15-July 19 exhibit entitled Leonardo 1452-1519 is composed of 216 loaned artworks by the Renaissance master including 97 from around the world including the Louvre, the Washington National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the British Museum and the Royal Library at Windsor.