Bruni takes over from Alessandro Giuli.

Maria Emanuela Bruni, an art historian and journalist, has been appointed as the acting president of MAXXI, Italy's National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome.

Bruni's appointment, announced on Wednesday, comes after the museum's former head Alessandro Giuli replaced Gennaro Sangiuliano as Italy's new culture minister last week.

A member of the MAXXI board of directors since April last year, Bruni has a long career in institutional roles and in 2008 she became the first woman to serve as head of protocol at the prime minister's office in Palazzo Chigi.

Raffaella Docimo, the most senior member of the MAXXI board, was initially supposed to assume the role of interim president however she turned the position down, saying it clashed with her commitments as professor at the faculty of medicine of the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

Giuli, who served as MAXXI president since November 2022, was sworn in as culture minister on Friday after the resignation of Sangiuliano who became embroiled in a scandal over an advisor role for his alleged former mistress.