Povoledo, E. (2007, August 2) Getty Agrees to Return 40 Antiquities to Italy. The New York Times

Link here


Italy. For centuries it had been a hodge podge of territories occupying the same piece of land in Europe. Not until 1861 was the country unified, and judging by the rivalries between each city, the unification wasn't universally loved. Now the Italian culture ministry is laying claim to pieces of art from the Getty calling foul in how they were attained over 40 years ago, citing that these pieces are essential to "Italian heritage."

I smell bull.

Why exactly the 40 some pieces of art in the Getty have magically become important now is beyond me. But because they are essential to Italian heritage? Come on. Italy is a country bursting at the seams with artifacts from Greece, Rome, and the Renaissance to name a few pivotal points in history. Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Siena, and Venice are living, functioning pieces of history and culture. So I'm hard pressed to believe that these 40 pieces mean anything.

But what would make a little more sense is that this is nothing but a power move by the Italians to lay claim to priceless art for free. Arrest some art dealers, make a list of demands to a museum and threaten an embargo on the trade of art unless these pieces are "returned" to their rightful owner, the Italian. This is, of course, because all Italians have a stong sense of unity about their country and their heritage? Right. Ask a Florentine to sit down in a bar after a football match with a Milan fan and I'm sure you'll see this "unity" in full swing.

Didn't the US do this to Cuba to try to get what we wanted? Demands, embargoes, arrests? This is crazy. Perhaps the trade of antiquities and art needs to be more closely monitored. Maybe Italy should have the right to lay claim over "their" art. I'm not pretending to be an expert on the import and export of art. But to resort to such guerilla tactics for what will register as a fart on the Italian cultural page is out of line. What would the world be like if every museum closed its doors to the outside world and demanded that certain pieces were returned from abroad?
One thing would be true, American museums would be really, really lame.