New York 05 March 2013
Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi has opened an exhibition entitled "'Piero della Francesca in America" at the Frick Collection in New York. The event came at the end of his two day-visit to the city, during which he met the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and the President of the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, as well as members of the American economic and financial community.
The exhibition is the first in the US dedicated solely to this Italian renaissance master. It includes 12 works, including 6 panels from the St. Augustine altarpiece created between 1454 and 1469, and other paintings such as the Saint John the Evangelist, The Crucifixion, and the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, Piero's only intact altarpiece in the United States.
"I am proud that, thanks to the Year of Italian Culture in the USA, the public will have an opportunity to admire Piero della Francesca's masterpieces in the splendid setting of such an innovative museum as the Frick Collection", declared Terzi.
The exhibition on Piero is part of a programme of over 200 events envisaged by the "Year of Italian Culture in the USA 2013". The project, conceived at Minister Terzi's initiative, enjoys the patronage of the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, and was opened on 12 December 2012. The opening event, attended by Minister Terzi and American authorities, was an exhibition at Washington's National Gallery of Art featuring Michelangelo's David-Apollo.
"This exhibition is further confirmation of Italy's ability to draw the very best from the deep roots of a millennia-long culture and at the same time grasp the challenges of the present and the future", added Terzi. The Minister was referring to the excellent reception Italy in US 2013 has received both in the USA and in Italy itself, where the initiative was presented on 28 February 2013 in the presence of the American Secretary of State, John Kerry.

fonte: Ministero degli Affari Esteri