On September 19, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum held a ceremony commemorating the opening of the exhibition, “A Monumental Journey to the Far Side of the World: The Art of Renaissance Italy and the Boys of Tensho-Era Japan.” The exhibition is organized in part as an initiative to promote bilateral cultural exchange and celebrates the 150th anniversary of official diplomatic relations between Italy and Japan.
Numerous guests and dignitaries attended the opening ceremony, led by His Excellency Domenico Giorgio, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to Japan and Commissioner Ryohei Miyata of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. Shigeo Hasegawa, executive senior advisor of TFAM, was also present.
In addition, Director Eike Schmidt of Italy’s Uffizi Gallery sent a message congratulating the exhibition’s opening.
“A Monumental Journey” features representative works of the Italian Renaissance at a time when four Japanese boys were dispatched to Italy and were granted an audience with Pope Gregory XIII some four centuries ago.
The exhibition will open for public viewing from September 21 to December 3.
