Tuesday,
September 25
The
ANNOTICO Report
I
am very proud that the Italian government took the initiative, and had the
tenacity and perseverance to prevail in its campaign against the US Art Museums
that have been complicit in the Looting of Italy's Treasures.
The
Los Angeles/Malibu J. Paul Getty Museum conflict after a long and difficult
slough is close to being resolved. 40 of the 46 contested items have been
agreed to be relinquished to
Wisely,
Now
that Getty has finally signed an agreement to memorialize it's
previous pledge,
Italy
still is maintaining the CRIMINAL Charges vs Marion
True and American antiquities dealer Robert Hecht, to keep
pressure on the Getty for the remaining 6 items.
I
am personally acquainted with the head of the law firm representing the
Therefore,
I am SO impressed with the legal Strategy, Tactics and Results of the
Italian Ministry in this case.
The
museum's pledge to return 40 objects is confirmed as civil charges are dropped
against former curator.
By Jason Felch and Livia
Borghese
September 25, 2007
The announcement came after a subdued ceremony in
Maurizio Fiorilli, a state lawyer representing
Details of the settlement were not released publicly, but a person familiar
with its terms said it followed the broad outlines of earlier agreements
reached between
In exchange for returning the contested objects,
In returning the objects, the Getty did not admit to knowing the objects had
been looted, and
The returns effectively render moot the civil aspect of True's trial, in which
"The withdrawal significantly lowers True's exposure," said Luis Li,
a Getty legal advisor. The Getty is paying for True's defense.
Paolo Ferri, the Italian criminal prosecutor in the
case, said he hoped the agreement would accelerate the pace of the trial, which
began in July 2005 and has hearings about once a month, when not delayed by
strike s or holidays.
Ferri said the criminal trial, the first in which an
American curator has been charged by a foreign county, was intended to be both
punitive and preventive. "The preventive aspect was to say to museums:
Please stop this buying in an illicit fashion, and please return the
objects," Ferri said in an interview Tuesday.
"This has now been achieved, and museums that are obliged to surrender
objects won't be in the same trouble."
He expressed confidence in winning a guilty verdict in the conspiracy case but
called its significance "virtual."
"True is an American citizen and will be able to evade my penal sanctions
by going to the
"For me, the trial has been won," he concluded.
True has maintained her innocence throughout the proceedings. Harry Stang, True's attorney, said, "Dr. True, together with
her defense team, will continue to pursue all steps necessary to es tablish her innocence of the
charges. Her defense team will address further matters when and if
appropriate."
The 40 objects being returned include the Getty Villa's signature statue of
Aphrodite, 10 other masterpieces and more than two dozen other important vases
and sculptures, purchased for more than $40 million over 30 years.
Four of those objects have already been taken down from display and will arrive
in
The Aphrodite will not return to
The agreement reached in August ended what had become a de facto cultural
embargo between the two parties, museum officials said.
Several Getty requests to borrow Italian art for upcoming exhibitions in
"Italian curators and museum directors were not issuing the ir approvals or denials until they saw what happened,"
said David Bomford, associate director for collections
at the Getty.
Soon after the August agreement, several Italian museums approved pending loan
requests, in one case reversing an earlier denial.
The Getty had asked for eight drawings and seven paintings from
Similarly, a Getty request for an important sculpture of Costanza
Bonarelli had been denied but was reconsidered after
the August agreement, Bomford said. The exhibition of
work by Gian Lorenzo Bernini will open next year , featuring the rare female bust from
"We could have survived without them," said Bomford
of the loans, "but those exhibitions are immeasurably improved and
enhanced by
jason.felch@latimes.com
Times staff writer Felch reported from
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