The news conference on March 16 announcing the Botticelli and the Renaissance exhibition will take place at Shanghai's Bund One Art Museum from April 28 to Aug 27. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The Italian consulate in Shanghai and Tix-Media announced on March 16 that an exhibition on Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and other Renaissance masters will take place at the city's Bund One Art Museum from April 28 to Aug 27.

The largest Botticelli exhibition to be held in China, Botticelli and the Renaissance, will showcase 10 original paintings by the master and 38 by his contemporaries from the Uffizi Galleries collection in Italy. Most of the artworks will be making their first public appearance in China. The important mythological painting Pallas and the Centaur and the biblical work Adoration of the Magi will be among the Botticelli pieces on show.

Xie Dingwei, general manager of Tix-Media and executive director of the Bund One Art Museum, says the most celebrated Botticelli creations — Birth of Venus and Primavera — are not permitted to leave Italy. As such, the museum requested and received authorization from the Uffizi Galleries to showcase high-definition copies of the two artworks in Shanghai. Each of the copies were made from more than 1,000 photographs of the original paintings.

"Never before have the Uffizi Galleries allowed such high-definition copies to be made for these masterpieces, and we believe it is worth the high cost to have them made in Italy and shipped to Shanghai. They will be important supplements to the treasured exhibits from there," says Xie.

The biblical work Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Located in Rome, the Uffizi Galleries have the largest collection of Renaissance masterpieces, and Botticelli, being a preeminent Renaissance master, had created artworks that "infiltrated our collective imagination and played an important part in our understanding of beauty, making continuous impact on our art, design and fashion", says Tiziana D'Angelo, consul general of Italy in Shanghai.

The exhibition is seen as an important project promoting cultural exchanges between China and Italy, says D'Angelo.

Apart from the Botticelli showcase, a series of other cultural events will be held this year to further enhance bilateral relations, she adds. Among the events is an Italian archaeological exhibition focused on the ancient Roman civilization. This exhibition will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Botticelli and the Renaissance will be the second exhibition created under the agreement signed in 2021 between Tix-Media and the Uffizi Galleries. According to the agreement, the two parties will host 10 exhibitions at the Bund One Art Museum within five years.

The first exhibition of the series, Uffizi Self-Portrait Masterpieces, was held from Sept 9 to Jan 8, and featured 50 self-portraits of classical masters and contemporary artists.