Changing the guard at Italy's top museums

At the Uffizzi in Florence           Photo: Corinasdavide / Wikimedia

Twenty new chiefs for 20 of Italy's museums—including some of the most famous—have been named by the Ministry of Culture, and seven of them are non-Italians.

There has been criticism in recent years that Italy's art museums have been neglected, their facilities run-down and with poor visitor experience. The new curators are charged with promoting the collections, renovating the buildings, extending hours and developing new outreach. (Good luck with budgets, though).

Among the most significant appointment are new heads for both the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence, both of which will be headed by Germans, art historian Eike Schmidt at the Uffizi and Cicilie Hollberg at the Accademia.  Some of the other museums to get new leaders are the Capodimonte in Naples, the archeological site at Paestum, and the Pinacoteca in Milan.