The legal battle lasted seventeen years, but Greece prevailed. The Greek Ministry of Culture announced, on the night of Friday May 19 to Saturday May 20, that 351 looted antiquities, dating from the Neolithic to the Byzantine era, were to be returned to Greece. A large number of ceramic fragments will also be repatriated.
The antiquities, classified into twenty-five groups, were in the possession of British art dealer Robin Symes Limited, which is in the process of being liquidated. The battle to recover these works of art looted in Greece began in 2006 when the Greek authorities launched their investigation into Robin Symes Ltd. in the country and abroad.
Notable pieces in the antiquities collection include a Neolithic-era statuette carved from white stone and dating from 4,000 BC, a Cycladic figurine from between 3,200 and 2,700 BC .-C., a damaged marble statue of Archaic Kore dating from 550-500 BC and a fragmented bronze statue representing the young Alexander the Great and dating from the second half of the IIe century.
Scattered across the world
Greece is fighting to recover its looted ancient coins scattered in museums and private collections around the world. Three fragments of the Parthenon kept by the Vatican for more than two centuries were returned to Greece in March, a gesture of friendship according to Pope Francis. Fragments of the monument remain scattered in several major museums around the world.
Greece also hopes to obtain the return of the friezes of the Parthenon which are in the British Museum in London, negotiations are underway between the museum and the Greek government. London claims the sculptures were “legally acquired” in 1802 by the British diplomat Lord Elgin who sold them to the British Museum. Greece maintains that they were the subject of a “looting” while the country was under Ottoman occupation. The restitution of the Parthenon friezes is a highly sensitive subject in Greece. In the Acropolis Museum, a space left empty is reserved for this frieze.