The Medici Case is not the first time in recent history that Italy has suffered a massive theft of artworks and antiquities, and it is reasonable to question whether mid-20th-century experiences have influenced current Italian approaches to repatriation. Analysis of the case of Rodolfo Siviero and his efforts to find and return cultural property stolen from Italy during World War II offers additional historical context for appreciating the approaches and efforts of the Italian Foreign Ministry and the Carabinieri TPC of today.

RODOLFO SIVIERO AND WORLD WAR II REPATRIATION

From the period beginning on 3 September 1943, when the Italians signed an armistice with the Allies, until May 1945, when German forces in Italy surrendered, German forces – even as an army in retreat – helped themselves to an extraordinary number of artworks belonging to individual Italian citizens, public and private collections and parishes of the Roman Catholic Church. To some extent, the theft of art from the Italian people had begun even before 1943, as Adolf Hitler had pressured Mussolini to sell him Italian masterpieces he coveted, such as the sculpture DiscobolusLancellotti, the 1st-century marble copy of the famous Greek bronze Discobolus of Myron. The sale of such objects was in direct violation of Italian cultural property law. In addition, agents working for the German government prior to the declaration of war carefully inventoried art treasures throughout Europe, preparing lists of desired objects for museums and personal ownership in the Third Reich.

As the Allied invasion of Italy began, a controversial individual emerged in the world of heritage in conflict. Born in 1911 in Guardistallo (Pisa), Rodolfo Siviero was the son of the Maresciallo (marshall) commander of the local detachment of the Carabinieri Corps and grew up in Florence.