Monday,
December 11,
The
ANNOTICO Report
Because of their
common interests and shared Roman-Greco
classical heritage, the two countries might pursue some claims jointly and then
determine which objects should go to which country.
International
Herald Tribune
By
Hugh Eakin
December
11, 2006
Pooling their
resources and diplomatic clout,
The agreement,
which he expects to complete in early 2007, would cement recent collaboration
between the two countries as both pursue increasingly muscular campaigns to get
back prized Greek and Roman antiquities.
Outlining the
strategy in an interview last week in
"The
Italians are very well organized ? very,
very well organized," Voulgarakis said.
"Every country has its own policy and priorities, but we can help each
other.
[The
J.
[Greece claims
the works ? a gold wreath dating from about 400 B.C. and a sixth century B.C.
marble statue of a young woman ? were illegally excavated and spirited out of
the country.
[It was unclear
if the return would stop a Greek criminal investigation over the alleged theft
of the wreath.
In late November,
Greek prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation of Marion True, the former
antiquities curator at the Getty, focusing on her involvement in acquiring the
wreath for the museum.
And last week,
Greek officials sent the Getty a new dossier of evidence, including documents
and photographs, to support their claim for the wreath, whose place of
excavation had previously been unclear.
Italian officials
have, meanwhile, indicated that they were prepared to drop their own separate
claim for the stone statue, which was among 52 objects that
For countries
seeking to claim antiquities in foreign collections and museums, the threat of
legal action has become an important tool.
In 2004, Italian
prosecutors indicted True on charges of conspiring to
import looted artifacts, and in recent weeks Italian officials have made it
clear that the outcome of her continuing trial in
Voulgarakis stressed that the Greek
judiciary was independent of the government and that his talks with the Getty
and other museums did not hinge on any legal proceedings in progress.
The accord
between
Because of their
common interests and shared classical heritage, he said, the two countries
might pursue some claims jointly and then determine which objects should go to
which country.
Anthee Carassava
contributed reporting from
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