Moscow Invasion Of Ukraine, Museums In Italy Return Art Loaned To Russian Galleries

The Hermitage Museum, Rusia. (Wikimedia Commons/W. Bulach)

JAKARTA - Two museums in Milan, Italy will return some artworks borrowed from Russia, following requests for their early returns, an Italian gallery said on Thursday, a further sign of wider tensions caused by the invasion of Ukraine.

Two weeks on, the intensity of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops has not subsided, impacting various sectors of life from the economy to the arts.

The Hermitage Museum based in St. Petersburg, Russia wrote to the Palazzo Reale Milan requesting the return of two paintings, including the Venetian painter Titian's 'Young woman in a furry hat', which were on loan for an exhibition entitled 'Titian and the image of women in Venice in the 16th century'.

"I think both works will be taken at the end of March," said museum director Domenico Piraina, adding they could not challenge the request.

"Titian's work is important, but without it the exhibition can run well," he said.

It is known that the exhibition, which started on February 23, was planned to last until June 5.

"When I read the letter, I felt bitter that culture should be protected from war, but these are difficult times," added Piraina.

Separately, the Gallerie d'Italia, which operates another museum in Milan, said it received a request to return 23 of the nearly 200 works in the exhibition 'Grand Tour. Dream of Italy from Venice to Pompeii' is currently on loan from four Russian museums.

"Returns will be made towards the close of the exhibition, which is scheduled for March 27," said a spokesman for the bank Intesa Sanpaolo, which has collections at the gallery and two other sites in Naples and Vicenza.

Meanwhile, the Rome-based Fendi Foundation and other museums in the northern city of Udine have received similar requests.

For information, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for assistance from the head of the Donbass Republic on 24 February.

He stressed Moscow has no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory, but aims to demilitarize and denazify the country. He also said that one of Moscow's main demands is for Ukraine to remain neutral (not to join the European Union and NATO).

In response, the United States along with a number of Western countries and allies imposed sanctions on Russia as a result of the invasion, with Moscow retaliating with sanctions.