It's difficult to go one week without reading a report in a newspaper, blog, or online regarding Italy's quest to reclaim antiquities it claims have been spirited illegally out of the country.
In at least one recent case, Italy has found itself on the opposite side of a repatriation claim. And Italy doth protest.
At stake is a second-century statue of Venus now displayed at the Palazzo Massimo museum in Rome. The statue was removed by Italian troops in 1912 from the ancient Greek settlement of Cyrene on the Libyan coast, according to a report in The Art Newspaper. Libya has been demanding the statue's return since 1989.
In light of the Italian government's uncompromising position with the largest American museums, the incident appears to be oddly hypocritical. The provenance of the object is clear -- it clearly was not found on Italian soil. Despite a court ruling in April that the statue be returned to Libya, the Italian Nostra continues to refuse and has appealed the case to the Council of State, Italy's highest court.
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