Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1494132
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MARCH 2023 4 CULTURE THE bronze sculpture Speed by Maltese artist Antonio Sci- ortino will be exhibited for six months in the Netherlands. This is the first time that a for- eign museum has asked Herit- age Malta specifically for the loan of a work by Sciortino, and for Speed in particular, at- testing to the sculptor's inter- national acclaim. Speed, usually on display at MUŻA, will be exhibited from the 4th of March till the 3rd of September at the De- sign Museum Den Bosch in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, where it will be showcased as part of the exhibition Faster, Better, more Beautiful: The Form of Progress. The exhi- bition is dedicated to the phi- losophy behind the concept of streamlining, one of the most important design principles of modern times, and includes artefacts from the Netherlands and beyond. Speed, completed in 1937, depicts galloping hors- es and horsemen whose speed leaves behind a strong force in the opposite direction. Sciorti- no is said to have felt strong- ly about this sculpture. The Maltese government bought it in June 2014 as a gift to the public to mark the 50th anni- versary of Independence Day, the 40th anniversary of Repub- lic Day, the 35th anniversary of Freedom Day, and the 10th anniversary of Malta's acces- sion to the European Union. Another MUŻA artefact cur- rently loaned by Heritage Mal- ta is Vittore Carpaccio's study Standing Male Figure. Between 20th November 2022 and 12th February 2023, it was hosted at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, USA. From 18th March till 18th June it will be exhibited at the Palazzo Ducale of Venice in Italy. Car- paccio's work was requested to form part of the exhibition Vittore Carpaccio: Master Sto- ryteller of Renaissance Venice, which spans two continents and is being organised by the National Gallery of Art, Wash- ington, and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. The drawing loaned by Her- itage Malta was a study for the 'Arrival of Ambassadors' scene from the 'Life of Santa Ursula' cycle, a series of large wall-paintings on canvas com- missioned by the Loredan fam- ily. They were originally created for the Scuola di Sant'Orso- la in Venice, which was under the patronage of the Loredan family, but today they can be admired at the Gallerie dell'Ac- cademia in Venice. Sciortino's Speed exhibited in the Netherlands Standing Male Figure by Vittore Carpaccio Speed by Antonio Sciortino