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New York and Bergamo are looking to the future together, through the lens of art and solidarity.The two cities, both at the very heart of the pandemic, have become the symbols of a new beginning.The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has offered The Musicians by Caravaggio on loan to the museum in Bergamo until the end of summer. This is a great gesture of international generosity and it has enabled the Accademia Carrara to reopen its doors and welcome the public with a wonderful surprise.These are by no means easy times also for the world of culture. Just as we are thinking about how to reshape our future, museums too are doing their bit, to fulfil their inherent social function, opening themselves up to the community.La Carrara is preparing to do just this, remaining true to its origins and history.The reason for exhibiting the work of a great Italian artist like Caravaggio, who is and always has been loved across the world for his ability to involve and captivate, is to focus attention on the importance of culture, through which one can find one’s own identity, overcome difficulties, and open up to the world once again. In the painting, the three young men – one of whom is a self portrait of the artist – are engaged in a musical performance, in line with a long-standing custom. The scene is decidedly modern, with one figure, viewed from behind, whose appearance can be surmised from the barely outlined profile. It is a sophisticated image, but also one that is rich in details from the real world, heralding one of the artist’s most original areas of investigation.The work, now in the most important museum in the United States, testifies to the close bond between the Carrara and the Metropolitan Museum and to the solidarity that unites Bergamo and New York, two cities that are being sorely tested by the health crisis.The Musicians brought to an end the exhibition dedicated by the Accademia Carrara to Simone Peterzano, a pupil of Titian and the master of Caravaggio – an event that had to close just three weeks after it was opened. La Carrara is coming back to life with its collections and with this act of generosity by the Metropolitan Museum, whose support made it possible to exhibit this youthful painting by Caravaggio at the very centre of the gallery.M. Cristina Rodeschini direttore Accademia Carrara BergamoSource