Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T08:22:39.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Returning Archaeological Objects to Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2018

David W. J. Gill
David W. J. Gill*
Affiliation:
Suffolk Business School, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, United Kingdom; Email: david.gill@uos.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

It has been more than 20 years since the raids on the premises at the Geneva Freeport were linked to Giacomo Medici. The seizure of photographic records led to a major investigation of acquisitions by museums and private collectors. This was expanded following the confiscation of archives from Robin Symes and Gianfranco Becchina. Over 350 items have been returned to Italy from North American public and private collections as well as auction houses and galleries. This article reviews the returns and identifies some of the major themes. It also notes some of the unresolved cases both in North America and in Europe and Japan.

Keywords

Repatriationphotographic archivesforensic archaeologyart marketauction housesantiquities market
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , August 2018 , pp. 283 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Maxwell L. 2017. Antiquities: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Maxwell L., and Nista, Leila. 1988. Roman Portraits in Context: Imperial and Private Likenesses from the Museo Nazionale Romano. Rome: De Luca Edizioni d’Arte.Google Scholar
Anderson, Maxwell L., and Nista, Leila. eds. 1989. Radiance in Stone: Sculptures in Colored Marble from the Museo Nazionale Romano. Rome: De Luca Edizioni d’Arte.Google Scholar
Arnold, Dorothea, Hemingway, Seán, Mertens, Joan R., Aruz, Joan, Picón, Carlos A., Milleker, Elizabeth J., Lightfoot, Christopher S., and LaRocca, Donald J.. “Ancient World.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 58, no. 2 (2000): 9–15. doi:10.2307/3269091.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, Michael. 2013. Praxiteles: The Cleveland Apollo. Cleveland Masterwork Series, vol. 2. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Boardman, John. 2001. The History of Greek Vases: Potters, Painters and Pictures. London: Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Bothmer, Dietrich Von. 1984–85. “Greek and Roman Art.” Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art): 6–7. doi:10.2307/1513544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bothmer, Dietrich Von. 1985–86. “Greek and Roman Art.” Recent Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art): 8–9.Google Scholar
Bothmer, Dietrich Von. 1987. Greek Vase Painting. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Bothmer, Dietrich Von, ed. 1990. Glories of the Past: Ancient Art from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Bothmer, Dietrich Von. 1997. “Ancient World.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, 55, no. 2: 12.Google Scholar
Browning, John. 1995. “A Layman’s Attempts to Precipitate Change in Domestic and International ‘Heritage’ Laws.” In Antiquities Trade or Betrayed: Legal, Ethical and Conservation Issues, edited by Tubb, K. W., 145–49. London: Archetype.Google Scholar
Butcher, Kevin, and Gill, David W. J.. 1990. “Mischievous Pastime or Historical Science?” Antiquity 64: 946–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabrera Bonet, Paloma, ed. 2003. La colección Várez Fisa en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación, cultura y Deporte.Google Scholar
Cavaliere, Barbara, and Udell, Jennifer, eds. 2012. Ancient Mediterranean Art: The William D. and Jane Walsh Collection at Fordham University. New York: Fordham University Press.Google Scholar
Chi, Jennifer, and Gaunt, Jasper. 2005. Greek Bronze Vessels from the Collection of Shelby White & Leon Levy. Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University.Google Scholar
Chippindale, Christopher, and Gill, David W. J.. 2000. “Material Consequences of Contemporary Classical Collecting.” American Journal of Archaeology 104: 463–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiansen, J. 2008. “I mediernes søgelys.” Ny Carlsbergsfondets Årsskrift: 138–45.Google Scholar
Christiansen, J., Winter, Nancy A., and Lulof, Patricia S.. 2010. Architectural Terracottas and Painted Wall Plaques, Pinakes: c. 625–200 bc. Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.Google Scholar
Cuno, James. 2008. Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
de Montebello, Philippe. 2007. “Whose Culture Is It? Museums and the Collection of Antiquities.” Berlin Journal 15: 33–37.Google Scholar
de Montebello, Philippe. 2009. “‘And What Do You Propose Should Be Done with Those Objects?”” In Whose Culture? The Promise of Museums and the Debate over Antiquities, edited by Cuno, J., 55–70. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Elkins, Nathan T. 2008. “A Survey of the Material and Intellectual Consequences of Trading in Undocumented Ancient Coins: A Case Study on the North American Trade.” Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde 7: 1–13.Google Scholar
Elkins, Nathan T. 2009. “Treasure Hunting 101 in America’s Classrooms.” Journal of Field Archaeology 34: 481–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felch, Jason, and Frammolino, Ralph. 2011. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 1997. “Sotheby’s, Sleaze and Subterfuge: Inside the Antiquities Trade.” Antiquity 71: 468–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2007. Review of E. Robson, L. Treadwell, and L. Gosden, eds., Who Owns Objects? The Ethics and Politics of Collecting Cultural Artefacts (Oxford: Oxbow, 2006), and N. Brodie, M. M. Kersel, C. Luke, and K. W. Tubb, eds., Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006). Journal of Field Archaeology 32: 1030–1106.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2009a. “Context Matters: Looting in the Balkans.” Journal of Art Crime 1: 63–66.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2009b. “Context Matters: Museums and the Looted World.” Journal of Art Crime 1: 43–46.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2009c. “Homecomings: Learning from the Return of Antiquities to Italy.” In Art and Crime: Exploring the Dark Side of the Art World, edited by Charney, N., 13–25. Santa Barbara: Praeger.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2009d. “Looting Matters for Classical Antiquities: Contemporary Issues in Archaeological Ethics.” Present Pasts 1: 77–104.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2010a. “Context Matters: Italy and the US: Reviewing Cultural Property Agreements.” Journal of Art Crime 3: 81–85.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2010b. “The Returns to Italy from North America: An Overview.” Journal of Art Crime 3: 105–9.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2011. “Context Matters: The Unresolved Case of the Minneapolis Krater.” Journal of Art Crime 5: 57–61.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2012a. “Context Matters: Fragmented Pots, Attributions and the Role of the Academic.” Journal of Art Crime 8: 79–84.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2012b. “Context Matters: Princeton and Recently Surfaced Antiquities.” Journal of Art Crime 7: 59–66.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2012c. “The Material and Intellectual Consequences of Acquiring the Sarpedon Krater.” In All the King’s Horses: Essays on the Impact of Looting and the Illicit Antiquities Trade on Our Knowledge of the Past, edited by Lazrus, P. K. and Barker, A. W., 25–42. Washington, DC: Society for American Archaeology.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2013a. “Context Matters: Dallas Museum of Art Takes the Initiative.” Journal of Art Crime 9: 79–84.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2013b. “Context Matters: The Cleveland Apollo Goes Public.” Journal of Art Crime 10: 69–75.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2014a. “The Case of the Ka Nefer Nefer Mummy Mask.” Journal of Art Crime 12: 13–25.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2014b. “Context Matters: Learning from the Herm—The Need for More Rigorous Due Diligence Searches.” Journal of Art Crime 12: 57–62.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2014c. “Context Matters: The So-Called Crosby Garrett Helmet.” Journal of Art Crime 11: 53–59.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2014d. “Looting Matters: Blogging in a Research Context.” In Blogging Archaeology, edited by Rocks-Macqueen, D. and Webster, C., 44–59, 246–67. Sheffield, UK: Landward Research.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2015. “Context Matters: Malibu Memoirs—Marion True Breaks Silence.” Journal of Art Crime 14: 65–71.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2016a. “Context Matters: The Returns from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.” Journal of Art Crime 16: 81–87.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2016b. “Thinking about Collecting Histories: A Response to Marlowe.” International Journal of Cultural Property 23: 237–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2017. “Context Matters: Drusus Minor and Tiberius.” Journal of Art Crime 17: 89–96.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J. 2018. “Context Matters: Horse Trading—Museum Exhibitions and Cultural Property.” Journal of Art Crime 19: 63–70.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J., and Chippindale, Christopher. 2006. “From Boston to Rome: Reflections on Returning Antiquities.” International Journal of Cultural Property 13: 311–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J., and Chippindale, Christopher. 2007. “From Malibu to Rome: Further Developments on the Return of Antiquities.” International Journal of Cultural Property 14: 205–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J., and Chippindale, Christopher. 2008. “South Italian Pottery in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Acquired since 1983.” Journal of Field Archaeology 33: 462–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J., and Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2011. “Polaroids from the Medici Dossier: Continued Sightings on the Market.” Journal of Art Crime 5: 27–33.Google Scholar
Gill, David W. J., and Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2016. “Polaroids from the Medici Dossier: Continued Sightings on the Market.” In Art Crime: Terrorists, Tomb Raiders, Forgers and Thieves, edited by Charney, N., 229–39. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godart, Louis, and De Caro, Stefano, eds. 2007. Nostoi: Capolavori ritrovati. Roma, Palazzo del Quirinale, Galleria di Alessandro VII, 21 dicembre 2007 – 2 marzo 2008. Rome: Segretariato Generale della Presidenza della Repubblica.Google Scholar
Jucker, Ines. 1991. Italy of the Etruscans: Archaeological Finds from the First Millennium BCE. Jerusalem: Israel Museum.Google Scholar
Kozloff, Arielle P., Mitten, David G., and Fabing, Suzannah. 1988. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Lyons, Claire L., Bennett, Michael, Marconi, Clemente, and Sofroniew, Alexandra, eds. 2013. Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, Simon. 2005. Going, Going, Gone: Regulating the Market in Illicit Antiquities. Leicester, UK: Institute of Art and Law.Google Scholar
Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997. Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.Google Scholar
Marlowe, Elizabeth. 2016. “What We Talk about When We Talk about Provenance: A Response to Chippindale and Gill.” International Journal of Cultural Property 23: 217–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNall, Bruce. 2003. Fun While It Lasted. New York: Hyperion.Google Scholar
Miho Museum. 1997. Miho Museum: The South Wing. Koka, Japan: Miho Museum.Google Scholar
Musée du Louvre. 1990. Euphronios, peintre à Athènes au VIe siècle avant J.-C.: Musée du Louvre, Paris, 18 septembre–31 décembre 1990, Exhibition Catalogue. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux.Google Scholar
Ortiz, George. 1994. In Pursuit of the Absolute: Art of the Ancient World from the George Ortiz Collection. Berne: Benteli-Werd.Google Scholar
Özgen, Ilknur, and Öztürk, Jean. 1996. The Lydian Treasure: Heritage Recovered. Istanbul: Ministry of Culture General Directorate of Monuments and Museums.Google Scholar
Padgett, J. Michael. 1983–86 [1991]. “An Attic Red-Figure Volute-Krater.” Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin 66: 66–77.Google Scholar
Padgett, J. Michael. 2001. “Ajax and Achilles on a calyx-krater by Euphronios.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 60: 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, Aaaron J. 1997. “Fragments of Antiquity: Drawing upon Greek Vases.” Harvard University Art Museum Bulletin 5: 1–87.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1991. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1990.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 50: 16–69.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1994. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1993.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 53: 46–95.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1995. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1994.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54: 40–79.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1997a. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1995.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 56: 36–74.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1997b. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1996.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 56: 75–115.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1998. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1997.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 57: 164–208.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 1999. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1998.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 58: 86–123.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 2000. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1999.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 59: 70–101.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 2001. “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 2000.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 60: 66–93.Google Scholar
Princeton University Art Museum. 2003. “Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2002.” Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 62: 107–61.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Nigel. 1990. “The Icklingham Bronzes.” Minerva 1: 10–11.Google Scholar
Sgubini, Anna Maria M. 1999. Euphronios epoiesen: un dono d’eccezione ad Ercole Cerite. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.Google Scholar
Silver, Vernon. 2009. The Lost Chalice: The Epic Hunt for a Priceless Masterpiece. New York: William Morrow.Google Scholar
Somers Cocks, Anna. 2015. “Why Italy Should Sell the 5,000 Antiquities Recovered by the Police.” The Art Newspaper, 25 March 2015.Google Scholar
Tompkins, Janice F., ed. 1983. Wealth of the Ancient World: The Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt Collections. Fort Worth, TX: Kimbell Art Museum.Google Scholar
True, Marion, and Hamma, Kenneth, eds. 1994. A Passion for Antiquities: Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, Exhibition Catalogue. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, in association with the Cleveland Museum of Art.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2012. Unravelling the Hidden Market of Illicit Antiquities: The Robin Symes – Christos Michaelides Network and Its International Implications. PhD dissertation, Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2013a. “A Marble Statue of a Boy at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.” Journal of Art Crime 9: 55–60.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2013b. “Nekyia—From Apulia to Virginia: An Apulian Gnathia Askos at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.” Journal of Art Crime 10: 81–86.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2013c. “Something Is Confidential in the State of Christie’s.” Journal of Art Crime 9: 3–19.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2014. “Nekyia—A South Italian Bell-Krater by Python in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Journal of Art Crime 11: 63–68.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos. 2017. “Nekyia—Museum Ethics and the Toledo Museum of Art.” Journal of Art Crime 17: 77–87.Google Scholar
Tsirogiannis, Christos, and Gill, David W. J.. 2014. “‘A Fracture in Time’: A Cup Attributed to the Euaion Painter from the Bothmer Collection.” International Journal of Cultural Property 21: 465–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vassilika, Eleni. 1998. Greek and Roman Art, Fitzwilliam Museum Handbook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Vickers, Michael, and Gill, David W. J.. 1994. Artful Crafts: Ancient Greek Silverware and Pottery. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Volpe, Lisa Della. 2009. L’Arma per l’Arte: Antologia di meraviglie. Rome: Sillabe.Google Scholar
Walsh, John. 1991. “Acquisitions/1990.” The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 19: 127–83.Google Scholar
Watson, Peter. 1997. Sotheby’s, the Inside Story. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Watson, Peter. 2006. “Convicted Dealers: What We Can Learn.” In Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade, edited by Brodie, N., Kersel, M. M., Luke, C., and Tubb, K. W., 93–97. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.Google Scholar
Watson, Peter, and Todeschini, Cecilia. 2006. The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities from Italy’s Tomb Raiders to the World’s Great Museums. New York: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Wescoat, Bonna D., and Anderson, Maxwell L.. 1989. Syracuse, the Fairest Greek City: Ancient Art from the Museo archeologico regionale ‘Paolo Orsi.” Rome: De Luca Edizioni d’Arte.Google Scholar