Latvia takes part in exhibition Images of Europe

On 4 February in Rome, a photography exhibition entitled Images of Europe opened in the exhibition hall of the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.

Latvia is represented in the exhibition by a selection of photographs prepared by the Riga History and Navigation Museum. A special focus is being placed on works by Vilis Ridzinieks, which highlight many events from the past, such as the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia in the National Theatre and the collapse of the tower of St Peter's Church in Riga when the WWII front line reached the city. Recent history is represented by photographs by Uldis Briedis, who has immortalized the Baltic Way of 23 August 1989.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Fratelli Alinari, a famous photographic agency from Florence, the organisers of the exhibition conceived an idea to assemble the most representative and vivid photographs taken in the 19^th-20^th centuries, so as to trace the most significant events, facts and shared characteristics throughout the entire course of Europe's history, thus summarizing its contemporary identity as well as the dynamics of transformation. Half of the exhibits were taken from the Alinari archive collection; the other part in turn was contributed by EU member states, who have offered their vision of the most significant historic events in their countries in the last 150 years.

Images of Europe has been organised by the Chancery of the President of the Republic of Italy in association with the renowned Fratelli Alinari photographic agency, and continues a series of exhibitions initiated last year and devoted to the history of united Europe.

Last spring in Rome, in the palace of the President of the Italian Republic, a similar exhibition entitled Masterpieces of European Art was organised by the Secretariat General of the Italian President. Latvia was represented in the display by a painting by Vilhelms Purvitis Ziema (Winter) from the collection of the National Museum of Latvia.

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