Who Owns History?
This rare life-size Greek bronze was fished out of the Adriatic. A key question: Was it in international waters?
(3 of 3)
As museums crawl out of the blast crater produced by the Rutelli campaign, it may be that the conversation on these possibilities will get seriously under way. In November, U.S. museum professionals met with their Italian counterparts in Rome to discuss ways to increase cooperation, for instance, by simplifying the process for loans from Italy. Meanwhile, the full-court press to enforce the laws continues. In January scores of federal agents raided four museums and an art gallery in Southern California in connection with an investigation into trafficking in Asian and Native American art.
And Italy is still demanding that the Getty return one more of the key works in its collection, an ancient Greek bronze, Victorious Youth. Stately and supple-looking, with his right hand upraised to place on his own brow a laurel wreath that disappeared long ago, he was discovered at sea by Italian fishermen in 1964 and purchased by the museum 13 years later for a reported $3.95 million. The Italians say the bronze was smuggled out of Italy. The Getty insists it was discovered in international waters before being taken to Italian soil. For good measure, the boy was never Italian to begin with. He was probably at sea, perhaps 2,000 years ago, because he was being carted away by the Romans from Greece. Has he found a permanent home at last? Perhaps, but I never look at his upraised hand without wondering if he's getting ready to wave goodbye.
The original version of this article stated that the New Acropolis Museum opens “later this year or early next.” Since then, the Greek Minister of Culture has announced that it will open this fall.
- « PREV PAGE
- 1
- 2
- 3
Most Popular »
- Nevada Ghosts: Rare Photos From an A-Bomb Test
- A Diamond Jubilee
- Detention of Chinese Fishermen Fuels Anger With North Korea, But Rift Unlikely
- Before and After D-Day: Rare Color Photos
- Marilyn Monroe: Early Unpublished Photos
- Which Birth Control Works Best? (Hint: It's Not the Pill)
- India's Petrol Hike: Gas Goes Up, and a City Melts Down
- 10 Dangerous Products You Might Have in Your Home
- Etan Patz: After 33 Years, an Arrest in the Disappearance of the 'Milk Carton Boy'
- Vintage Vegas: Rare Photos of a Desert Boomtown
- Researchers Probe the Potential Health Benefits of Palm Oil
- A Visit with Turkey's Controversial Religious Movement
- Feeding the Planet Without Destroying It
- Bubble on the Potomac
- Falcon's Liftoff: How a Private Firm Could Change Space Exploration
- The Fatal Flight of the Superjet 100: Why Did It Slam Into a Mountain?
- Learning That Works
- The Man Who Remade Motherhood
- Bibi's Choice
- Seoul: 10 Things to Do





