The three statues, known as Orpheus and Sirens, have been removed from the museum and are being prepared to be transported back to Rome in September. The set of statues, depicting a seated man and two mythical sirens, was purchased by John Paul Getty from a now-defunct private bank in Switzerland in 1976. They are believed to be from the Taranto area in the southern Italian region of Puglia and have been on a list of stolen items since 2006 that Italy is seeking to reclaim. The museum said in a statement that it decided the artifacts should be returned to Rome after an investigation conducted by Matthew Bogdanos, who heads the antiquities trafficking unit of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The Oracle by Camillo Miola. Photo: Artokoloro/Alamy The museum is also working with Italy’s culture ministry to return four other relics, including three works bought in the 1970s and an 1881 oil painting by Camillo Miola called The Oracle, after an investigation by scholars concluded the objects also had illegally removed from Italy. “We value our strong and constructive relationship with the Italian Ministry of Culture and with the many archaeologists, conservators, curators and other academics across Italy with whom we share a mission to promote the preservation of ancient cultural heritage,” Getty said. . director, Timothy Potts. Meanwhile, 260 Etruscan, Greek and Roman artefacts looted from Italy before ending up in US museums, private collections or auction houses are being gradually returned after the investigation concluded late last year. The objects are on display in the recently created Museum of Salvage Art, which is housed in a space among the ruins of the ancient Baths of Diocletian in Rome. Many of the 260 relics were looted during secret excavations by tombaroli, or tomb raiders, dating back to the early 1980s, before being smuggled out of Italy. Among them was an ancient Roman sculpture that almost ended up in Kim Kardashian’s possession. More than 3 million stolen objects have been recovered by Italy’s heritage protection team since the unit was founded in 1969.
