Farewell to Irina Antonova, the great museologist who first brought the Mona Lisa to Russia

Farewell to the historic director of the Pushkin Museum: passed away at the age of 98 Irina Antonova, following complications from Covid-19.

She directed the Russian museum branch for no less than fifty-two years, from 1961 to 2013; thanks to her in 1974 the works of Leonardo da Vinci, including the Mona Lisa, were exhibited in the Soviet Union for the first time. However, this was not the only occasion when the Pushkin Museum hosted foreign art: in 1981 the exhibition Moscow-Paris. 1900-1930, in 1996 Moscow-Berlin. 1900-1950, in the same year Treasures of Troy from the Excavations of Heinrich Schliemann, in 2010 the exhibition devoted to Picasso.

He worked hard for the expansion of the museum. In 2013 she became president of the museum and was appointed an honorary member of ICOM - International Council of Museums.

Among the leading experts on the Italian Renaissance, she was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Uffizi Galleries director Eike Schmidt called her "one of the greatest and most respected museologists of the entire twentieth century and the first decades of our century, a globally recognized scholar and expert not only on modern art, but also on the Italian Renaissance, which she loved so much.“ ”A woman of extraordinary culture, cosmopolitan and of unflagging energy and tenacity even in her last years, Aleksandrovna built the global reputation of the Puskin Museum she first directed and then presided over, defending with exemplary patriotism the interests of Russia and her hometown, Moscow. We will miss her advice, observations, ideas and arguments. And his example will always remain, not only for every colleague and museum director, but also for every citizen," he added.

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Farewell to Irina Antonova, the great museologist who first brought the Mona Lisa to Russia

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