• AutoTL;DRB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    71 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The art unit of Italy’s police force found the items had been looted and sold to US museums and private collectors in the 1990s.

    The oldest item dates back to the Villanovan age (1000 - 750BC), while other artefacts were from the Etruscan civilisation (800 - 200BC), Magna Graecia (750 - 400BC) and Imperial Rome (27BC - 476AD).

    Most artefacts had been stolen in the 1990s, then sold through a series of dealers with one selection apparently being offered to the Menil Collection, a museum in Houston, Texas.

    The ministry said the owner of the collection “spontaneously” returned the items after police found that they had come from illegal excavations of archaeological sites.

    Separately, the ministry said that 145 of the returned artefacts had come from a bankruptcy procedure against an English antiques dealer, Robin Symes, who amassed thousands of pieces as part of a network of illegal traders.

    Italy has long sought to track down antiques and artefacts that have been stolen and sold to private collectors and museums.


    I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • El Barto
      link
      fedilink
      English
      51 year ago

      It’s not stolen if it’s done during war, it’s a prize.

  • @Mangan
    link
    21 year ago

    Cool, good to know! Thanks for sharing

  • @Mangan
    link
    11 year ago

    Now it’s your turn, Italy