WASHINGTON, DC.- After its successful run at the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome last spring, the exhibition Niccolo’ Machiavelli: The Prince and its Era (1513-2013) now debuts in America, with support from Eni, on the occasion of the Year of Italian Culture in the United States.

“This exhibition is the best way to celebrate the five hundredth anniversary of one of history’s most famous works of literature and philosophy,” stated Ambassador of Italy to the U.S. Claudio Bisogniero. “Still today, Machiavelli's The Prince remains an important tool for understanding the issues and the historical evolution of modern democracies.”

From November 11 to January 6, the exhibition will be open to the public in two cities: Washington at the Embassy of Italy (November 11 to 28) and Georgetown University (November 12 to 28); and New York at the Italian Cultural Institute (December 6 to January 6) and at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies (December 6 to 20). The exhibit’s objective will be defined in forums that position Machiavelli and his work in the proper historical context and explore the various ways in which one and the other are examined and perceived today.

The exhibition Niccolo’ Machiavelli: The Prince and its Era (1513-2013) is held under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic. It is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy in Washington with support from the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities and Tourism, and curated by Alessandro Campi in collaboration with Marco Pizzo. It is an initiative of the Enciclopedia Italiana Institute founded by Giovanni Treccani and produced by Comunicare Organizzando, with Alessandro Nicosia as the general coordinator.

To commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of Machiavelli’s masterpiece as thoroughly and expansively as possible, a decision was made to chart a course that would be a journey through both time and space. It begins in the Renaissance period and reaches the present day. When, in a letter dated December 10, 1513, Machiavelli announced to friend Francesco Vettori that he had written “a treatise De Principatibus", he could never have imagined, despite a fervid creativity and keen intellect, that it would become the most celebrated and at the same time reviled text in history, and what's more the most widely read and at once the most misunderstood political work of these last five hundred years. One should also remember its resounding success as a publication, if it is true that The Prince is probably (along with Dante's Divine Comedy and Collodi's Pinocchio) one of the most famous and widely translated works of Italian literature in the world.

The exhibition, divided into four sections, tracks the saga of The Prince, the figure of Machiavelli and the success of this important masterpiece over the centuries. Many writers, politicians and intellectuals from the sixteenth century to the present day have used Machiavelli’s manuscript as their primary reference point, thereby contributing to its remarkable dissemination throughout the world --in a host of editions and in translation in multiple languages. A number of influential institutions and private collections have contributed to this extraordinary exhibition. Among them, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan, the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, the Museo Nazionale of Palazzo Venezia, and the Biblioteca Augusta of Perugia.

Paintings, costumes, and memorabilia, as well as videogames and multimedia reconstructions of Macchiavelli’s Florence are on display. Central to the exhibit are several of the most renowned editions of The Prince, as well as the historic translations responsible for its dissemination throughout the world.