On 21 December 1999 the beautifully restored Scuderie were officially inaugurated by the President of the Republic, with the Mayor of Rome and the Minister of Cultural Heritage by his side. The first exhibition was entitled 100 Masterpieces from the Hermitage. Rather than simply a collection of old masters, the exhibition bore witness to the history of early 19th century taste in collecting.

It was also the first time that such a broad selection of works of art from the famous Russian museum had ever left their St. Petersburg home. Some 100 paintings and drawings by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, le Douanier Rousseau, Vlaminck, Derain, Vallotton, Vuillard, Sisley, Pisarro, Matisse and Picasso were hosted by the Scuderie until June 2000.

Over the years guidelines were adhered to with scientific stringency and continuity when choosing topics for exhibitions at the Scuderie, including a program for boosting appreciation of both classical and modern Italian art (one has but to think of the splendid exhibitions devoted to Caravaggio, Antonello da Messina, Lorenzo Lotto, Filippino Lippi e Sandro Botticelli, Tintoretto, Tiziano) and an innovative and in-depth look at the relationship between Italy and the best in international art (with such exhibitions as the Majesty of Rome, Rembrandt, the Metaphysical School, Velazquez, Bernini, Luca Giordano, From Giotto to Malevic: Mutual Wonder, and Dürer and Italy), and major projects devoted to the history of world art (such as Vermeer. The Golden Century of Dutch Painting, and Frida Kahlo).

These stunning events, along with all the others that have gone to make up the program of exhibitions held to date, always play the dual role of being both enjoyable and of immediate interest to the wider public and at the same time, being historically and artistically stringent and innovative from a scholarly standpoint.