Andreina Contessa is the new director of the Accademia Gallery

Andreina Contessa is the new director of the Accademia Gallery and the Bargello Museums. The appointment was announced on the evening of Wednesday 16 July by the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, following the proposals of the evaluation committee received by the deadline of 15 July.

Who is the new director?

Andreina Contessa, art historian and scholar, museum curator, expert in museology, digital cataloguing and multimedia, has been director of the Regional Museums of Friuli Venezia Giulia since May 2020, after heading the Historical Museum and the Miramare Castle Park. Contessa lived for many years in Jerusalem, where she obtained a doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and directed the Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art. She is an expert on Jewish art. She has also worked on environmental sustainability in museums.

Funaro: "Congratulations, you will be at the helm of one of our city's leading museums."

"Congratulations and best wishes to the new director of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence and the Bargello Museums, Andreina Contessa. She will be at the head of one of our city's leading museums and the wealth of experience she brings with her will undoubtedly be an added value in the role she is about to take on," said Mayor Sara Funaro. "I am sure that there will be a great collaboration in the common interest of the city. Florence has a cultural and artistic heritage of the highest level, and it is surely everyone's goal to know how to enhance it and make it as accessible as possible."

The other directors

Minister Giuliani's other appointments include Francesco Sirano at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Federica Rinaldi at the National Roman Museum, Paola D'Agostino at the Royal Museums in Turin and Simone Quilici at the Coliseum Archaeological Park.