The United States has returned over 250 stolen ancient artefacts to Italy.
The process of repatriation was initiated after police discovered that the artifacts were indeed stolen.
The items had been plundered and sold to US museums and private collectors in the 1990s, according to Italy’s police art unit.
The valuable artefacts include pots, paintings and sculptures – some as old as 3,000 years.
Some of the mosaics are worth millions of euros.
The artifacts span different periods of history, from the Villanovan age (1000 – 750BC) to Imperial Rome (27BC – 476AD), with some from the Etruscan civilisation (800 – 200BC) and Magna Graecia (750 – 400BC).
Italy has a rich and diverse cultural and historical heritage, but it has also suffered from the plundering and trafficking of its ancient treasures for many years.
It has been striving to reclaim its stolen artefacts from various museums and collectors around the world, especially from the United States, where they were often sold or bought by dishonest dealers and buyers.
The artefacts span thousands of years and include items such as Etruscan vases, Roman coins and mosaics, and Villanovan pottery.
Some of them are very rare and precious, such as an Apulian krater from 335 BC that was confiscated in New York from a private collection.
The Carabinieri’s art unit, a paramilitary police force in Italy, made the return of these artifacts possible by exposing their illegal origin and history through research, databases, and photo archives.
The Carabinieri tracked down some of the artefacts to a notorious smuggling ring that involved Robin Symes, a British antiquities dealer who accumulated thousands of pieces through his unlawful trade.
A collector offered other artefacts to the Menil Collection, a museum in Houston, Texas, but the museum curator rejected them and informed the Italian authorities.
The repatriation of these artefacts is a victory not only for Italy but also for the worldwide community of art enthusiasts and scholars, who can now enjoy and study these pieces in their authentic context and with proper documentation.
The return of these artefacts also conveys a strong message to the illegal market of antiquities that looting and trafficking will not be accepted, and that cultural heritage is for the benefit of humanity, not for individuals or institutions.
The US deserves commendation for collaborating with Italy on this issue, and for adhering to the international agreements and laws that safeguard cultural property.
The US has been one of Italy’s main allies in fighting the illicit trade of antiquities and has returned hundreds of artefacts to Italy over the years.
New York returned $19m (£16m) worth of art that was looted from Italy in September 2022, which included a marble head of the goddess Athena from 200BC, worth about $3m.
However, there are still many more stolen artefacts that are still in the US and elsewhere, waiting to be discovered and recovered.