Lysippus athlete, European Court says Getty Museum must return sculpture to Italy

The long-standing issue of theAthlete of Fano, the fourth-century B.C.E. bronze sculpture attributed to the Greek artist Lysippus, which was fished out of a fishing boat off the coast of Fano in 1964 and later illegally sold to the Getty Museum in Malibu, California, still continues. The European Court of Human Rights has now unanimously ruled that Italy has every right to confiscate and demand the return of the Fano Athlete to the Malibu museum.The court in fact dismissed the Getty Foundation’s suit for violation of property protection, thus recognizing the legitimacy of the action taken by Italy to recover the sculpture.

The judges stressed that the protection of a country’s cultural and artistic heritage is also a priority from a legal point of view. And that several international norms also enshrine the right to counter the illicit acquisition, import and export of goods belonging to a nation’s cultural heritage. In its ruling, the court said the Paul Getty Foundation acted “negligently or not in good faith in purchasing the statue despite being aware of the claims made by the Italian state and the efforts undertaken to recover it.” And it found that the Italian courts’ decision to proceed with the confiscation of the disputed asset “was proportionate to the objective of ensuring its return.”

In June 2018, the Pesaro gip had ordered the sculpture’s seizure, but a few days later the Getty appealed the Pesaro court’s decision to the Supreme Court. In December of that year, the Court of Cassation had made final the executive confiscation of the sculpture ordered in June by the Pesaro gip, requiring the American museum to return the work to Italy, but the Getty did not revise its position on the matter. Then the matter ended up in the European Court.

Lysippus athlete, European Court says Getty Museum must return sculpture to Italy

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