Germany Returns Looted Antiquities to Italy
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Loading... - Lily Walter
- 27 Jun 2024
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Berlin’s Altes Museum has returned 25 antiquities, including 21 Apulian vases, believed to have been illegally excavated and smuggled out of Italy decades ago. The German culture minister, Claudia Roth, handed over the artifacts to her Italian counterpart, Gennaro Sangiuliano, in a ceremony held in Berlin. As a gesture of gratitude, Italy is lending Germany two painted panels from Lucanian graves and bronze armor from the archaeological museums of Paestum and Naples.
Roth emphasized the importance of protecting cultural heritage, describing the returns as a concrete example of safeguarding cultural identities from plunder, illegal excavation, theft, smuggling, and illicit trade.
The Altes Museum acquired the 21 Apulian vases in 1984 from the Basel art dealer Christoph F. Leon. They were purportedly owned by a Geneva family since 1889. However, during investigations into the infamous Italian antiquities smuggler Giacomo Medici, polaroid photographs of four of these vases were discovered in his Geneva office. Medici was convicted in 2004.
Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, stated, "We are convinced that it is right to give these objects back." While only four vases are definitively proven to be from illegal excavations, the similarity of the remaining 17 vases suggests they were likely stolen from the same grave. The vases, dating back to around 340 BC, are believed to originate from the Foggia area in northern Apulia, a region heavily affected by illegal excavations over the years.
The return loans from Italy, including the Lucanian paintings and bronze armor, were selected to fill gaps in Berlin’s antiquities collection. Andreas Scholl, director of the antiquities collection, noted that these objects illustrate the often warlike interactions between Greeks and indigenous Italian people in southern Apennine. The inclusion of these items, especially the paintings, significantly enriches Berlin's collection.
In addition to the 21 vases, four more objects with different provenances, three of which are also connected to Medici, are being returned to Italy.
