One of Italy's top art galleries has appealed to the German government for help in returning an artwork stolen by Nazi troops in 1943. The chief of the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Eike Schmidt, released a video calling for the return of the painting, "Vase of Flowers," by 18th-century Dutch artist Jan van Huysum.

Until the original is returned, a black and white photo of the artwork with the word "stolen" in Italian, German and English on it will hang in the Uffizi's Pitti Palace, Schmidt said. "An appeal to Germany for 2019: We hope that this year may finally see the return to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence of the celebrated work of art entitled Vase of Flowers," Schmidt said in a statement released with the video.