Saturday,
October 27,
Prnceton
U, To Return Artifacts to Italy, Next is Copenhagen, Cleveland, and
The
ANNOTICO Report
The agreement is
similar to ones
You may feel the Earth tilting as all this Looted Patrimony is being
returned to
Friday, October 26, 2007
Authorities from
the
Under the
agreement,
In exchange,
Among the objects
covered by the deal is a "psykter" a Greek vase decorated with red figures
that was used for cooling wine. Made in
The psykter's title will be transferred to
Museum director
Susan Taylor said the institution was pleased with the deal.
"This
agreement reflects and supports the research and educational mission of the
university art museum, enabling us to retain a number of objects, repatriate
others that belong to
The agreement is
similar to ones
Earlier this
week, a top Italian negotiator in the case told The Associated Press that
The
Fiorilli stressed that the
Italians were not questioning the museum's good faith in buying the objects and
said the deal was meant to encourage cultural cooperation.
The agreement
follows the one signed by the Getty last month to return 40 artifacts and is
the latest deal yielded by
Prosecutors
contend the psykter, one of the most prized artifacts
in the Princeton accord, was looted from the Etruscan site of Cerveteri, north of
Hecht is on trial
along with former Getty curator Marion True, accused of knowingly acquiring
looted or stolen antiquities. Both Americans deny wrongdoing.
The trial grew
out of an investigation into an Italian art dealer, Giacomo
Medici, who has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term on art trafficking
charges. Medici is appealing his conviction.
In a 1995 raid on
Medici's offices in Switzerland, police found a trove of artifacts and photos
of antiquities, many in pieces and covered in dirt a sign they were excavated well after a
1939 law that made all antiquities found in Italy state property.
Experts have
spent recent years proving that many of the objects in Medici's photos came
from
Fiorilli said
"It's not a
question of who will we target next, we will check with everybody." Fiorilli said.
He said the Glyptotek had already responded to a request for
information on objects which, according to documents from the
Flemming Friborg,
curator of the Glyptotek, confirmed the Italians had
been given information. Friborg said an exchange of
objects had been discussed, though "very, very loosely."
Fiorilli said negotiations with
the Cleveland and Miho museums are still at an early stage.
James Kopniske, spokesman for the
Hiroaki Katayama,
head of the Miho's cultural department, said the museum had not been contacted
by the Italians and did not believe it had any looted artifacts in its
collection.
__
Associated Press
writers Jan Olsen in
The
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