Sometimes diplomacy is simply the art of covering up, well, art.
Italian officials on Tuesday went to great lengths to make the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, as comfortable as possible on his visit to Rome, going so far as covering up nude statues at the city's Capitoline Museum, where Rouhani met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The two men delivered a joint address and announced new trade deals worth at least $18 billion while standing beside a grand equestrian statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Not visible from where the two spoke were the museum's nude statues, which had been conspicuously covered by large white boxes.
Nude statues covered at #rome Capitoline museum for visit of #iran's #rouhani https://t.co/LTZ6j6SfYX via @Agenzia_Ansa— JosephineMcKenna (@JosephineMcK) January 26, 2016
Veneri capitoline "inscatolate" per visita #RouhaniSu #CorrierePerVoi, di @viviana_mazza https://t.co/t9TplVo1Ic pic.twitter.com/hP7pgPAQ3c— Corriere della Sera (@Corriereit) January 26, 2016
Also out of respect for Rouhani, the Italians, known for their great wine, abstained from serving it during the leader's trip, as they do for all visiting Muslim dignitaries, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
On his first European tour since sanctions against Iran were lifted, Rouhani also met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where he asked that the pontiff pray for him.
Their meeting was the first between a pope and an Iranian president since 1999.