(ANSA) - Berlin, February 21 - Culture Minister Dario
Franceschini on Friday gave back to Germany a statue of Mary
Magdalene by Renaissance great Andrea della Robbia which had
been mistakenly taken from a German Jewish family after it was
found in Herman Goering's collection.
In the presence of German Culture Undersecretary Monika
Gruetters, Franceschini stressed the importance of returning a
work that had ended up in Italy "by mistake" and had
"unwittingly" stayed there for so long.
Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) was an Italian Renaissance
sculptor, especially in ceramics.
Born in Florence, Andrea was the son of Marco della Robbia,
whose brother Luca della Robbia popularized the use of glazed
terra-cotta for sculpture.
Andrea became Luca's pupil, and was the most important artist
of ceramic glaze of the times.
Culture min returns della Robbia work to Germany
Magdalene statue taken from Nazis by mistake