BENGALURU: For the first time in Bengaluru, art lovers can admire the 1490 masterpiece Madonna and Child by Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli. It will be put on display at the international exhibition titled One Mother, Many Mother Tongues, being organised by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in collaboration with the Italian Consulate and the Union Ministry of Culture, from Thursday.
Arriving after a preview in Delhi, the showcase places the Italian masterpiece alongside ancient Etruscan Mater Matuta figures, a Kushan-period Hariti and a rare 6th-century Skandamata from Udaipur. Giandomenico Milano, Consul General of Italy in Bengaluru, said the city has been chosen to showcase the art piece because of its growing bilateral importance. “Bengaluru is central to Italy’s engagement in India, with more than 100 Italian companies operating here.
While our industrial ties are growing, culture gives a human dimension to this relationship,” Milano said, describing the show as a key milestone in view of the 2027 India-Italy Year of Culture and Tourism. Explaining the curatorial narrative, co-curator Naman P Ahuja highlighted the contrasting cultural energies placed at opposite ends of the gallery.
“At one end stands the compassionate mother who must sacrifice her child, and on the other side we put Chamunda who would kill anyone who tries to attack her child,” Ahuja said. Supported by Prestige Group and Rezwan Razack’s Museum of Indian Paper Money as its cultural partner, the exhibition runs through September 20.