Venice in a sense is also an Armenian city: under the high auspices of the Presidents of Armenia and Italy an exhibition of exceptional pieces of Italian art will be on display at the Presidential Palace

Today, an exhibition of exceptional pieces of Italian art was opened at the Presidential Palace. The exhibition is held under the high auspices of the Presidents of the Republic of Armenia and Italian Republic. Four paintings of the 18th century from the Paola and Carolina Zanne Fund, which show Saint Marco Palazzo in Venice, belong to masters Jovanni Antonio Canaletto, Berdardo Belotto, Franceso Guardi and Michele Marieski.

Opening the exhibition, President Armen Sarkissian noted that it was a manifestation of historical and present deep and close cooperation and warm relations between the peoples of Armenia and Italy. “We spoke about the exhibition almost one year ago with the President of Italy and Ambassador. The collection is here through the high patronage of the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella,” President Sarkissian underscored. “In fact, this exhibition is reciprocal because per our agreement, we will have our exhibition in Italy, paintings will be on display at the Presidential Palace in Rome. It is to be organized during the state visit of the President of Armenia to Italy come November. I am planning to take up to ten paintings of our greatest masters with me.”

Speaking of the paintings on display, President Sarkissian assessed them as samples of the best world paintings. “The paintings are related to the city which is very dear to us all: I am talking about Venice. It is dear to us for many reasons and not only because of Mkhitarian Congregation but also because of Armenian merchants, who were related to Venice for centuries,” the President of Armenia said. “We have huge presence there even today: there is the Armenian Center at the University of Venice, many famous names are related to Venice, Italian lectors, architects, art critics who are also aware of the Armenian architecture and engineering and have multiple books and articles related to them. Hence, in a sense Venice is also an Armenian city.”

President Armen Sarkissian hailed the role of the Italian Embassy in Armenia and personally Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco’s role in organizing the exhibition.
Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monako thanked the presidents of the two countries for initiating a cultural event like this.

“This is an exhibition which became possible because of your and the Italian president’s high auspices and on whose behalf I convey my greetings to you,” the Ambassador said addressing the President of Armenia. “This initiative is only the beginning because soon Armenian art will be represented in Rome. The four paintings presented here have not been chosen randomly; each of them bears a special meaning. Four paintings represent the 18th century which was a unique era in the bilateral Armenian-Italian relations.”