VIDEO - An aide to Culture Minister Limor Livnat says Italy will loan a Botticelli masterpiece
to Israel
as scheduled, after delaying the loan
over worries about Syria.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
Italy's culture ministry said this month it would not send the 15th-century "The Annunciation of San Martino alla Scala" to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem due to geopolitical and logistical considerations.
But Meir Bardugo, aide to Livnat, said Sunday that the Israeli minister worked
"behind the scenes intensively" to convince Italy the work would be safe.
The head of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Antonio Natali, told the ANSA news agency on Saturday that the work had left Italy a few days ago bound for Jerusalem.
Israel Museum Director James Snyder said Sunday that the four-month exhibit would open Tuesday.