Italy is asking the Louvre for the return of seven pieces of antiquity, probably looted before their acquisition, the Parisian museum told AFP on Friday, confirming information in “Le Monde”. The daily revealed “an investigation still in progress” to determine with certainty the route of these parts.
According to information from the world, this investigation “could lead in the fall to a historic agreement between France and Italy” allowing the return of these works to the peninsula. A spokeswoman for the Louvre museum told AFP that the list had been sent in February by the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who came to prepare the exhibition “Naples in Paris: the Louvre invites the Capodimonte museum” . This list is not public.
“A stain in the collections of the Louvre”
“I consider that works which have a dubious provenance are a stain in the collections of the Louvre. We must assume and examine this with rigor and lucidity”, declared to Le Monde the president of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars.
Entrusted to the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, these pieces were purchased by the Louvre between 1982 and 1995. They have in common that they passed through the hands of Italian art dealers convicted or suspected of trafficking in antiquities, Giacomo Medici, Gianfranco Becchina and Edoardo Almagia.
According The world, the most emblematic is a 5th century BC amphora attributed to the “Painter of Berlin” (the city where the recognizable style of this Greek artist was authenticated). There are also Greek vases by the “painter of Ixion” (4th century BC) and in the manner of the “painter of Antimenes” (6th century BC). Contacted by AFP, the Italian Ministry of Culture did not respond immediately.