«They are absolutely absurd and counterproductive requests such as demolishing statues of Russian authors, not sending works to Russia for ten years as punishment, or closing the museum of Russian icons in Palazzo Pitti. On the contrary, here at the Uffizi Galleries we enhance the testimonies of cultural and peaceful contacts in the hope of being able to resume them in the future. Culture must be the first to be activated even before the economy. And we hope that the many cries for peace that are raised from all over the world will have an effect ».
Director Eike Schmidt said so, on the sidelines of the presentation of the donation to the museum of a painting by the seventeenth-century painter Bartolomeo Salvestrini, on the theme of cultural diplomacy to be pursued even in wartime. «At a time when economic embargoes exist and air connections are interrupted – he added – and it is clear that cultural exchanges are also interrupted. A suspension of all collaborations with Russian institutions from Rome has also been decided, so we as a state museum obviously fit into this ». However, the total opposition to the conflict of the Uffizi Galleries remains firm: “On the same day in which war actions began, the museum immediately published on social networks the image of the Consequences of the war by Paul Rubens, one of the masterpieces against the war, the most powerful of which we are custodians. We have also dedicated a lesson broadcast live online to this work and to the subject “.