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Prime Minister Visits Dresden Gallery, Attends the Depositing Ceremony of 17th Century Painting Returned to Germany by Georgia
2019-02-18 On Germany's invitation, the Prime Minister of Georgia visited the Dresden Gallery to attend the depositing ceremony of Still Life with a Hare, a 17th century painting by Pietro Francesco Cittadini, which the Prime Minister of Georgia handed to Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany during her visit to Tbilisi a few months ago. This painting, owned by the Dresden Gallery and considered lost since 1945, was discovered in a private collection, with the Government subsequently engaging in the return of the oil painting to its rightful owner. According to the Head of Government, Germany invariably supports Georgia at every stage of the country's development, including in the political, defense, economic, legal, cultural, and educational fields. For the ceremony, the Prime Minister was joined by the Speaker of the Parliament of Saxony. Matthias Rossler thanked Mamuka Bakhtadze for returning the painting believed to be lost for years and praised this fact as another strong demonstration of the friendly relations between the two countries. During the ceremony, the painting's story was discussed by the museum's leadership who also emphasized that almost 500 exhibits went missing from the Dresden Museum, with only 56 of them reclaimed so far. Cittadini's oil painting is displayed for the public in the Alte Meister Gallery of the museum. Prime Minister's Press Office
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