Thursday,
August 02, 2007
The
ANNOTICO Report
The
Day before
This
has been an embarrassing episode for the Getty "which has stringently
tightened its acquisition standards" and is a triumph for the current
Italian minister of culture, Francesco Rutelli.
Italy has one of the strictest laws governing its
cultural property, and Rutelli has been
relentless in his quest to get American museums to hand back suspect pieces.The Getty return is by far the greatest.
A seven-foot-high marble-and-limestone statue of
the goddess "Aphrodite",
is the centerpiece of the returning treasure trove,The
mammoth fifth-century B.C. goddess is thought to have been looted from the site
of an ancient Greek settlement in
Despite
the agreement, the fate of the other SIX (6) treasures was left to
further investigations /discussions. including one
important piece that had held up negotiations for months: the "Statue of a Victorious Athlete"
a Greek bronze believed to date from around 300 B.C.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated Press
Wednesday,
August 1, 2007
"Both
parties declare themselves satisfied with the fact that, after long and
complicated negotiations, an agreement has been reached and now they move ahead
with a relationship of renewed cooperation," the statement said.
The Getty has
denied knowingly buying illegally obtained objects.
It was not
immediately clear if the agreement would affect the trial in
The two have been
charged with knowingly receiving dozens of archaeological treasures that had
been stolen from private collections or dug up illicitly. Both deny wrongdoing.
Under the
agreement announced Wednesday, most of the artifacts will be returned to
The agreement
followed 1 1/2 years of talks and left the Getty with confidence that
"there's a very bright future," museum Director Michael Brand said
during a telephone interview in
If questions are
raised about other objects in the Getty collection, the museum and Italian
officials agreed to work together "in a cordial, collegial, constructive
manner" to resolve them, he said.
The agreement
also includes one of the most disputed works, a 5th century B.C. statue of the
goddess Aphrodite, which will remain on display at the Getty until 2010, the ministry said. Italian authorities believe the 2.2-meter
(7-foot) statue, bought by the Getty for US$18 million in 1988, was looted from
an ancient Greek settlement in
The Culture
Ministry said it would release further details on the agreement at a news
conference scheduled for Thursday morning.
Following more
than a year of negotiations, the ministry had threatened to suspend all
collaboration with the Getty if a deal was not reached by the end of July. And,
despite the agreement, the fate of some treasures was left hanging.
The statement
said the two sides agreed to postpone further discussion on at least one
important piece that had held up negotiations for months: the "Statue of a
Victorious Athlete," a Greek bronze believed to date from around 300 B.C.
The museum
believes the bronze was found in international waters in 1964 off
Italian
authorities have launched a worldwide campaign to recover looted treasures and
had been at odds with the Getty over dozens of antiquities they say were
illegally dug up and smuggled out of the country despite laws making all
antiquities found in
Authorities have
signed separate deals with
The
ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:
Italia
Italia
Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net