(Left) The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke and nelson-atkins.org)
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has entered into a Super Bowl wager with its counterpart in Kansas City, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
The museum of the losing city will send one of its masterworks, as a loan, to the museum of the winning city.
Both are major encyclopedic museums located in the heart of their respective cities. Neither director identified the piece of art they will put on the table, but both are absolutely certain the other will be the one who will travel with a loaned gift in hand.
The director from Kansas City, Julián Zugazagoitia, said he will offer visiting Philly representatives “something they’ll long remember after the Chiefs make short work of the Eagles.”
The director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sasha Suda, said the artwork from Kansas City will be displayed in a prominent place and with Philly pride “when the Eagles soar to victory.”
The two museums will play up their rivalry beforehand on social media.
A similar wager was placed in 2018, when the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Afterwards, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston sent the Philadelphia Museum of Art a portrait of Mrs. James Warren, painted by John Singleton Copley in 1763. It was on view at the Art Museum for about three months.