The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has appointed Eike Schmidt, a German art historian who currently works at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, as its new director.
It is the first time in the internationally-renowned gallery’s history that the job has gone to a non-Italian. Schmidt replaces current director Antonio Natali.
The move follows a scheme instigated by the Italian culture ministry to restructure and reform the country’s museum sector, which saw applications invited for 20 top jobs at museums across Italy. Sitting directors were requested to re-apply for their jobs if they wished to remain in position.
Commenting on the scheme on Tuesday when all 20 appointees were announced, Venice Biennale president Paolo Baratta, who is also a member of the ministry’s selection committee, told La Repubblica: “The museum system was sclerotic. A weak system: inadequate resources and paralyzing rules.
“It is a very different situation from what happens abroad, where museums are real cultural engines.”
Of the 20 directors announced, a further six are non-Italians. The appointments are evenly split between men and women.
