ArmInfo. Under the patronage of the Presidents of Armenia and Italy, an exhibition of unique works of Italian art has opened today at the residence of the President of the Republic of Armenia.
According to the press service of the RA President, four paintings of the 18th century brought from the "Paolo and Carolina Zani" Foundation, depicting St. Mark's Square (San Marco) in Venice, are works of famous masters Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, Bernardo Belotto, Francesco Guardi and Michele Marieschi. Opening the exhibition, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian noted that it is evidence of deep historical, close, friendly and warm relations between the peoples of Armenia and Italy. "We talked about the exhibition about a year ago with the President of Italy and the Ambassador. The collection is here under the high patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Matarella. This exhibition is, in fact, bilateral, because, according to the agreement, we will have our exhibition in Italy exhibited in the Palace of the President of Italy. The exhibition is planned to be held during my state visit to Italy. I plan to take with me up to a dozen works of our greatest masters, "Sargsyan said.
Touching upon the exhibits of the exhibition, the President of Armenia called them one of the best works of world painting.
The Armenian leader also highly appreciated the role of the Italian Embassy in Armenia and personally Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco in organizing the exhibition.
In turn, the ambassador expressed gratitude to the presidents of Armenia and Italy for organizing such an exhibition. "This initiative is just the beginning, as the Armenian culture will soon be presented in Rome. These four paintings are not the result of random selection, each of them has a special meaning. The four paintings represent the 18th century, an exceptional period for the Armenian-Italian bilateral relations," said ambassador.