ST. PETERSBURG, July 6 (RIA Novosti - Northwest, Maxim Nichiporenko) - A former imperial palace just outside St. Petersburg is today hosting the presentation of four paintings from the collection of the Charlottenburg Palace (Berlin).

Under a program on returning cultural treasures, the Constantine Palace will receive four works of European art: two canvasses by Dutch painter Isaac de Moucheron (1667-1744) and another two by Italian artist Francesco Guardi (1712-1793).

Germany is handing over the paintings, which will now be part of the palace's permanent collection, to compensate for treasures stolen from the Soviet Embassy in Berlin during World War II.

The palace's valuable art collection, which was almost completely lost during the civil war in Russia after the Bolsheviks seized power and World War II, is gradually being restored. In 2004, Nikolai Vyrubov, a prominent art collector and one of the leading figures of the Russian emigration in Paris, granted the palace six portraits of his ancestors.

On December 18, 2004 the Russian Culture Foundation assisted the presenting of two paintings, by Alexander Benua and Nikolai Miliotti, which had belonged to another Russian emigrant Alexander Plotto.