Works stolen from Italy and ended up abroad, here's what was said at MiBAC meeting

The cultural heritage committee that is to take stock of works that have improperly or illegally left Italy and ended up abroad met today in Rome. Cultural Heritage Minister Alberto Bonisoli said three important outcomes were achieved at the meeting.

The first was a reflection on what the committee has done so far, and how the committee will be articulated in the future: in particular, the committee will expand to include other state administrations. The proactive part of the operations will always fall to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have the task of activating cultural diplomacy to make sure that the result is achieved, which is the return of the illicitly exited asset from Italy.

The second result concerns the Vase of Flowers by Jan van Huysum, the painting taken from the Pitti Palace during World War II by the Nazis, and still in Germany today: the MiBAC will provide the Farnesina with the full picture of the situation, both from a regulatory and legal point of view, and the Foreign Ministry will take action to ensure that, together with its German counterparts, a solution is found. Minister Bonisoli expressed confidence that the painting situation can be resolved soon.

Finally, the third result concerns the LysippusAthlete, the bronze sculpture from the fourth century B.C. now kept at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and which Italy considers to have arrived in the U.S. as a result of an illegal sale: the minister explained that according to Italian law the work must return to Italy, and that at the moment it has been decided to ask for a mapping of all collaborative activities with the Getty “so as to have,” as Bonisoli said, “the complete picture and on the basis of this then decide how to reason solutions that can be acceptable to both parties.”

Pictured: a moment of today’s meeting at MiBAC.

Works stolen from Italy and ended up abroad, here's what was said at MiBAC meeting

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