By A.M. Goldstein

HAIFA —One of Italian-Jewish artist Modigliani's famous paintings, "Nude with a Hat/Portrait of Maud Abrantes," left its University of Haifa home recently for a brief visit to Rome.

The Haifa institution's Hecht Museum lent the unusual work to Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome , for an exhibition of Modigliani's works that opens toward the end of this month.

The painting, part of the Hecht Museum collection, is unusual because it is painted on both sides of the canvas, the Nude on one side and Maud on the other.  The artist could not afford canvas and had to exploit what he had. 

The double-sided work was painted in 1908.  The nude is unidentified, but is thought to appear in another Modigliani work, "The Jewess."

The Rome exhibition will display 70 works, milestones in the short career of Amedeo Modigliani, who was born in 1884 and died in 1920.  Now considered one of the important pathbreakers of modern art, he achieved fame only after his death.

The Hecht Museum , located on the campus of the University of Haifa , has both an archeological wing, devoted to the "people of Israel in the Land of Israel ," and an art wing, which features works from the Jewish School of Paris and works of the impressionists.

A.M. Goldstein is the English language editor for the University of Haifa's Department of External Affairs.