- The image of Count Rotari, thought to be lost, remains in the hall.
A painting by Pietro Antonio Graf Rotari (1707–1762), long thought lost, remains in the possession of the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale). The Cultural Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt has acquired the painting "Angelica and Medoro among the Shepherds" for the museum, the foundation announced. The painting was rediscovered last year in the museum's depot. According to the information, the Cultural Foundation of the States is supporting the purchase with 20,000 euros.
"It's a great stroke of luck that the long-lost painting by Pietro Antonio Graf Rotari could be identified and will remain at the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale)," said the General Secretary of the Cultural Foundation of the States, Markus Hilgert. Its eventful provenance is closely linked to the history of the Duchy of Anhalt and today's state of Saxony-Anhalt. In the future, the painting will be permanently accessible to the public.
The painting depicts a scene from the 1516 published and widely received epic poem "Orlando furioso" (German: "Raging Roland") by Ludovico Ariosto.
A Journey Through the Centuries
The Venetian-born Count Rotari was one of the most renowned painters of the 18th century and served as court painter first in Vienna, then from 1751 to 1756 in Dresden in the service of the Saxon Elector Frederick Augustus II, and finally in the employ of Empress Catherine II in St. Petersburg.
It is suspected that the painting was created either in Dresden or in Russia. Accordingly, it was presumably acquired by Leopold III. Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau from the artist's estate in the 1760s and remained in the private possession of the House of Anhalt until 1945. It was part of the furnishings of the Dessau Residential Palace and was relocated to Schloss Ballenstedt during World War II.
In 1945, the painting was then expropriated and confiscated in the Soviet Occupation Zone as part of the land reform and transported to the central collection point in the Moritzburg in Halle (Saale). After the war, knowledge of its whereabouts was lost.
The Cultural Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt decided to add the long-lost painting "Angelica and Medoro among the Shepherds" by Pietro Antonio Graf Rotari to its collection, which will be permanently displayed at the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale). To facilitate this acquisition, the foundation received a financial contribution of 20,000 euros from the Cultural Foundation of the States.
