Home / Crime and Justice / Italy Recovers Thousands of Stolen Artworks from U.S.
Italy Recovers Thousands of Stolen Artworks from U.S.
29 Apr
Summary
- A 25-year collaboration has returned thousands of illegally trafficked objects to Italy.
- Artifacts include Etruscan vases, Roman statues, and Byzantine coins.
- The U.S. and Italy are allies in fighting illicit cultural property trafficking.
The United States and Italy are celebrating a quarter-century of successful collaboration that has led to the return of thousands of illegally trafficked artworks to Italy. This initiative involves the repatriation of ancient artifacts, including Etruscan vases, Roman statues, and Byzantine coins, recovered from American museums, auction houses, and private collections.
Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli emphasized the strong U.S.-Italy alliance in combating illicit trafficking of cultural property. Investigations by Italy's art theft police, in conjunction with U.S. agencies like the Manhattan district attorney's office, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations, have been crucial in identifying and recovering these stolen items.
A significant agreement reached in 2000, and renewed in December of last year, has become a cornerstone in international efforts to prevent undocumented antiquities from entering the U.S. and facilitate their return. The Manhattan district attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit alone has recovered over 6,200 antiquities valued at more than $485 million since 2017.
Among the returned treasures is a marble head of Alexander the Great, stolen in 1960, and a first-century bronze winged satyr missing for 50 years. Homeland Security Investigations also assisted in recovering 15 Byzantine-era gold coins stolen in 2009. Many of these recovered pieces were seized from institutions like the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
