Olomouc, North Moravia, March 10 (CTK) – The New York Metropolitan Museum of Arts will loan Adoration of the Shepherds, a painting by famous Spanish mannerist El Greco, to the Olomouc Museum of Arts in exchange for Tizian’s Apollo and Marsyas, the Olomouc museum’s spokesman Petr Bielesz has told CTK.
El Greco’s masterpiece from 1605-1610 will be displayed in the Czech Republic for the first time.
For security reasons, the museum would not specify the date of its arrival.
In June, the painting will be on display within the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Archdiocese Museum as part of the Olomouc Museum of Arts.
“It is a great honour for us and the confirmation of our prestige, since one of the world’s most important museums considers us a trustworthy and significant partner,” museum director Michal Soukup said.
Apollo and Marsyas, a large painting on which Tizian started to work when he was 65 years old and completed it at the age of 91, was transferred from the Kromeriz Palace, south Moravia, to the Metropolitan Museum in New York in mid-February.
Some experts consider it the most valuable work of art in the Czech Republic.
Since March 2, it has been on display in Met Breuer, a newly opened museum building in New York.
Olomouc Archbishop Jan Graubner said the loan means an extraordinary opportunity for the presentation of the Czech Republic.
“Tizian’s painting is a work of world significance, and many galleries have shown interest in its loaning. It is impossible to meet all of the requests, as frequent relocations would harm the painting. However, its loaning to the Metropolitan Museum is exceptional. It represents our homeland and our care for cultural heritage, and perhaps it is also an invitation to American tourists to visit Kromeriz,” Graubner said.
The Kromeriz Archbishop’s Palace and gardens are among the 12 Czech sights on the UNESCO world heritage list.
Another painting from Kromeriz to have been loaned to New York, together with Apollo and Marsyas, is the double portrait of English King Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria by Flemish Baroque painter Antonis van Dyck.
