MADRID.- The Minister of Culture, Ángeles González Sinde, yesterday presided over the signing of the agreements between the Museo del Prado, the State Hermitage Museum and the State Society for Cultural Action. These agreements pave the way for an unprecedented exchange between the two museums in the form of two major exhibitions that will demonstrate the variety, quality and breadth of the collections of these great institutions.

In addition to the Minister of Culture, others present at the signing yesterday included Plácido Arango, President of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo del Prado, Charo Otegui, President of the State Society for Cultural Action, Miguel Zugaza, Director of the Museo del Prado, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Alexander I. Kuznetsov, Russian Ambassador to Spain, and the Special Ambassador for Russia-Spain Year 2011, Juan José Herrera de la Muela. The importance of this collaborative agreement within the context of this special Year was singled out at the event and general information on the two exhibitions in question was provided.

The first of them, The Prado in the Hermitage (25 February to 29 May 2011) will present in Saint Petersburg a group of 66 paintings from the Spanish, Italian and Flemish Schools that will allow Russian visitors to appreciate the historical and artistic importance of the Prado’s collections. At the end of this year, the Prado will present Treasures from the Hermitage (8 November 2011 to 26 March 2012) with 170 items (including classical art, decorative objects, paintings, sculptures and drawings) loaned from the Hermitage. They will in turn reveal the variety and breadth of that museum’s collections, which run from the 5th century BC to the 20th century.