Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

But if we have neglected Italian diplomats we have certainly not neglected exhibitions and acquisitions of Italian art. Exhibitions here have covered Italian sculpture, bronzes, painting, graphics, and last, but most importantly, Leonardo da Vinci's nature studies from Windsor Castle. Acquisitions of Italian works span the centuries from the sixteenth up to the present day and include The Flagellation ofChrist by Giambologna, Hercules and Omphale by Giovanni Battista Foggini, The Risen Christ by Tintoretto and untitled works by Francesco Clemente and Marino Marini. And this is as it should be. No Gallery can afford to ignore Italian artistic achievement. Dr Samuel Johnson put it neatly when he said: 'A man who has not been to Italy is always conscious of an inferiority'. Such a man--or woman, for the masculine gender no longer subsumes the feminine-will have missed greatness in all its forms, in architecture, in painting, in sculpture, in music, in literature and in poetry. Indeed, perhaps the greatest poem in the world is Dante's Divine Comedy, and the poet's words as he emerges from the Inferno, 'E quindi usdmmo a riveder le stelle', can be applied to every aspect of Italian culture and civilisation. Wherever we look in Italy we see the stars. We are lucky to have added another star to our collection, Expansion of poetry by Leonardo Dudreville. We are also lucky to have persuaded a man with a deep love and knowledge of art to bring it forth into the light, and I shall leave it to Dr de Cardona to tell us about it. I now call on Dr de Cardona to unveil the painting. 56