Italy is asking the Louvre to return seven ancient artifacts that experts say were looted.
In February, Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano met Louvre President Laurence des Cars in Paris to discuss the group of objects. Among them is a black, 5th century amphora attributed to the famous “Berlin Painter” and several Greek vases created between the 4th and 6th centuries BCE
During the meeting, Sangiuliano delivered a letter with a formal request for the repatriation of the relics, according to a new report by The world.
The seven artifacts were acquired by the Louvre between 1982 and 1998 from dealers who trafficked in stolen material.
“I consider works of questionable provenance to be a stain on the Louvre collections,” Des Cars said. The world. “We must recognize and examine this with rigor and lucidity.”
The museum is currently investigating the provenance of the items in question. He could return them as early as this year, if it is indeed proven that they were obtained unethically.
But restitution cases are not always so simple in France, where objects belonging to public institutions are deemed “inalienable”, meaning that their removal requires special authorization from Parliament.
In January, the country’s culture minister, Rima Abdul Malak pledged to introduce several new bills this would ease the restrictions on refunds. One of them, which applies to the return of property taken from Jews between 1933 and 1945, was passed into law yesterday July 13.
Last year, the former director of the Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez was accused of ‘facilitating’ the acquisition of illegally trafficked antiquities by the Louvre Abu Dhabi between 2014 and 2017.
Louvre officials did not immediately return a request for comment on Italy’s repatriation request.
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