A major exhibition about the history of duelling at the state-run Moscow Kremlin Museums has been postponed after institutions in France, Spain, Austria and the UK withdrew their loans of artworks in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The original exhibition listing for The Duel: From Trial by Combat to Noble Crime indicates the show was to feature loans from ten European museums in all (including institutions in Paris, Madrid, Leeds and Vienna) plus Queen Elizabeth II, but all have pulled their loans as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. According to Le Monde, the palace of Versailles had lent three paintings, France’s national library had sent seven works on paper and the Musée du Louvre lent six artworks and two historical pistols for the exhibition, which was due to open on 4 March but has now been postponed indefinitely.
“Our presence could have been exploited as a sign of divergence among Europeans. There was no question of disassociating ourselves [from the other European lenders],” a spokesperson for the French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot told Le Monde of the decision to withdraw the works from French collections, adding that interactions with the Kremlin Museums had taken place “without any evidence of hostility”.
A message on the Kremlin Museums website states that European museums lending works for the show “were forced to withdraw them before the time due to the geopolitical situation” and that the museum is “currently working on making the exhibition happen without European participation”. A number of Russian institutions, including the National Library in St Petersburg, the Pushkin State Museum and the State Historical Museum in Moscow, were also listed as participants.
In the immediate aftermath of France withdrawing the loans, which had already been sent to Russia, the objects were expected to be transferred to, and stored at, the French embassy in Moscow. Because of the current restrictions around international travel to Russia, it was unclear when French cultural workers would be able to reach Moscow and repatriate the works.
Objects loaned for The Duel are the latest works due to travel between Europe and Russia that have been recalled by museums on both sides in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine. The State Hermitage Museum’s planned loan of Raphael’s The Holy Family (around 1506-07) for a major exhibition of the Renaissance master’s work at London’s National Gallery was cancelled last week.