Letter: Melee over Meloni’s museum boss mayoral pick

In a short paragraph at the end of the article devoted to his candidacy for mayor of Florence (“Meloni coalition backs Schmidt’s bid for Florence mayor”, Report, June 3), ex-Uffizi director Eike Schmidt shows the contempt in which he holds Florence, Naples and his new compatriots (he was naturalised in November 2023).

Schmidt, a German art historian, is a candidate in Florence, but if he loses, he says he has a plan B, and it’s not to lead the opposition on the city council, but to run the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples, where he was named director last December.

And referring to the Capodimonte, he believes that “not even Italians know about it”, which is also an insult to his predecessor Sylvain Bellenger, the French art historian, whose work running the Naples museum is widely acknowledged.

Incidentally, Schmidt was appointed to this post by culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, who is close to the party that now supports him in his Florence mayoral bid.

Got it?

François Poirier
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France