Italian President Mattarella and French President Macron Unveil “Naples in Paris” Exhibition, Seeking to Improve Relations

China News Agency, Paris, June 7 (Reporter Li Yang) Italian President Mattarella visited France on the 7th local time and met with French President Macron to seek to improve Italian-French relations.

Mattarella came to the Louvre in Paris at noon that day, and Macron welcomed Mattarella at the entrance of the Louvre pyramid. The two presidents jointly unveiled the special exhibition “Naples in Paris” at the Louvre, and jointly appreciated the Italian art treasures such as Bellini’s historical paintings displayed in the special exhibition.

Italian Culture Minister Sangiuliano, who accompanied Mattarella on the visit, said that he was born in Naples. He immediately invited French Minister of Culture Malak to visit Naples, which Macron praised.

According to reports, the “Naples in Paris” special exhibition is jointly organized by the Louvre Museum and the Capodimonte Museum in Italy. It will focus on Italian paintings from the 15th to 17th centuries collected by the two museums, and the exhibition will last for 6 months.

Mattarella also communicated with Italian students studying in Paris that day. He emphasized that culture is “the carrier of people leading to the future”; the cultural exchanges between Italy and France have a long history and have contributed to European culture.

French public opinion believes that this is another attempt by Mattarella to improve the relationship between the two countries by directly participating in Italian-French cultural exchange activities. In 2019, Mattarella made a special trip to Amboise, a town in the Loire Valley of France, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of the European Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci, at a time when French-Italian relations were at a low ebb.

The current French-Italian relationship is not out of the woods, and the two countries have recently clashed over the immigration issue. France has expressed concern over Italy’s “migrant crisis” due to a recent surge in migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy. According to the analysis of the French “Les Echos”, the misunderstanding between France and Italy on related issues may be eliminated, but the sense of distrust between the two sides still exists.

Source: China News Network