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Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister gave the Heads of State and Government attending L’Aquila´s G-8 summit, a book by sculptor Antonio Canova, with a 25 kilogram cover of Carrara marble reproducing Venus and the Graces.
They are “Ten handmade pieces, each unique, made by the Bologna Marilena Ferrari Foundation where twenty-three master artisans of Italy have worked”
The paper made by hand with miniature paintings, reproducing the main sculptures by Italy´s neoclassical father, he estimated a value of 100 thousand euros for each book.
The binder is made of brocade with gold threads and velvet measuring 71 cm long by 44.5 wide and 11 cm high.
The gift, along with two chests of mahogany and ash, was delivered to representatives of the United States, Japan, Italy, France, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and European Commission´s President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, Sweden´s Prime Minister, Reinfeldt Fredrock, current President of the European Union.
Barack Obama, president of the United States, “was very impressed by the size and weight of the book” and said ,according to witnesses, between smiles,to his personal assistant that he had to carry it, although he did not know how he would fit it into his suitcase.
