On February 27, at 5:00 PM, the Art Palace of Georgia - Museum of Cultural History invites you to the exhibition “Returned Treasures.”

In 1921, during the Soviet occupation, many unique artifacts were taken from the Art Palace of Georgia, for fear of Bolshevik terror. In 2025, with the support of Georgian Minister of Culture Tinatin Rukhadze, the museum returned numerous works of Western European art from various private collections and galleries in Europe, located by specialists.

Among the returned items are paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries. Valuable manuscripts, including a twelve-line letter from Napoleon I in the emperor's own handwriting, a card signed by Alexandre Dumas. A Greek skyphos (wine vessel) from the 4th century, a unique manuscript, “Iamb and Icon of the Holy Mother of God” – 18th century – decorated with superscripts and headings, executed in Nuskhuri script and enclosed in an engraved binding, paintings from Italy, France, and the Netherlands. They reflect various genres and periods of Western European art.

The aim of the exhibition is to present the cultural heritage returned from abroad to the public and to showcase its historical, artistic, and national significance. At the same time, it promotes the process of finding and returning lost artifacts.

Here is a list of the returned works:

1. Unknown author, Venetian school Saint John the Baptist and Saint Jerome. 16th century

2. Unknown author, Venetian School Saint Peter and Saint Paul. 16th century

3. Johannes Verspronck (1597–1662) Portrait of a Lady. Late 16th – early 17th century

4. Jacob Campo Weyerman (1677–1747) Still Life with Flowers. Late 17th–18th century

5. Unknown author. Young Boy with his Dog. Dutch School. 1660-1665

6. Franz De Paula Ferg (1689-1740) Commedia dell’Arte Perfoming in a Busy Village Square. 1720

7. Gustaaf A.F. Heyligers (1828-1897) Artists Sketching in an interior.  19th century

8. Arturo Orselli (19 th century) The Flirtatious Huntsman. 19th century

9. School of Bernardino Pinturicchio (1454–1513) Triptych: Infant Christ and John the Baptist; (18th century). Apostle Peter and Saint Augustine.

10. Anonymous Flemish painter. (16th century) The Crucifixion.

11. Pieter Bodding van Laer (1599-1642) Travelers. 1635

12. Andreas Franciskus Vermeulen (1821-1884) Evening market. 19th century

13. Thomas P. Hall (1810–1867). Feeding the Bunnies

14.  A twelve-line letter from Napoleon I

15.  A handwritten letter from Napoleon's son-in-law and Marshal Joachim Murat

16.  A handwritten card from the great French writer Alexandre Dumas.

17. 17. A Greek skyphos (wine vessel) from the 4th century BC

18.  “Iamb and Icon of the Holy Mother of God” from the 18th century