Head of Italy's Uffizi art treasure to take over Austria's top museum
dpa
VIENNA (dpa)- German art historian Eike Schmidt will serve as the new director of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses the Habsburg's imperial painting collection, the Austrian Culture Ministry announced Friday.
In 2015, Schmidt had caused a stir in Italy when he became the first foreigner to head the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, known for Renaissance treasures such as Botticelli's "Birth of Venus."
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is home to an important collection of German, Flemish and Italian masters from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, such as Albrecht Duerer, Pieter Bruegel and Tizian.
When Schmidt takes over the museum in Vienna in 2019, he will also oversee the Habsburg Treasury, which contains the crown jewels of the former Austrian imperial family.
Schmidt previously worked at other leading institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
In Vienna, the art expert succeeds current director Sabine Haag.
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When Schmidt takes over the museum in Vienna in 2019, he will also oversee the Habsburg Treasury, which contains the crown jewels of the former Austrian imperial family.
Schmidt previously worked at other leading institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
In Vienna, the art expert succeeds current director Sabine Haag.
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