US returns artefacts worth €60 million to Italy
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Credits: Emanuele Antonio Minerva © Ministry of Culture
Over 600 pieces of art in the United States discovered within private collections, galleries, or auction houses have been sent to Italy after it was found that they were stolen or illegally excavated before they were initially taken to the States. The works of art are expected to be worth over €60 million collectively.
The paintings were discovered by the Carabinieri Art Squad, a section of Italy’s police department responsible for handling the country’s art crime cases. They predict that most works come from the 9th Century BC to the 2nd Century AD.
The Carabinieri Art Squad state that most of the objects found are archaeological artefacts; however, there are also some antiques, materials, and coins. Many works have been secured from “clandestine excavations” in central and southern Italy. Many also come from the theft of churches, museums, and private collections.
Officials were buoyant to celebrate the return of the objects to the country. The Carabinieri worked with different prosecutor’s offices, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and a branch of US Homeland Security on the operation. The items were seized from various locations, including private collections, intermediaries within the art market and well-known art traffickers.
One of the most valuable objects seized was a silver tetradrachm coin found on the Greek island of Naxoes, which is believed to date back to the 4th Century BC. On it, the coin depicts an image of Dionysus and Silenus, the wine gods. It was excavated illegally from Sicily before being shipped to the UK and was only discovered once it was put on sale in New York for $500,000.
This wasn’t the only coin in the recovered products. Another coin was stolen from a museum in Pesaro in 1978, located in an auction house in Philadelphia. Additionally, a group of gold coins seized by thieves in 2009 at the Parma museum were traced back to auction houses across the US. They were eventually found in New York, Dallas, Puerto Rico, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Artificial intelligence has also played a significant role in locating the stolen pieces of art. The Carabinieri used the ‘Stolen Works Of Art Detection System’ programme to look for the objects listed for sale on various social media sites. Last year, using the tool resulted in the return of 105,474 objects, with a combined value of €264 million.
Although they have made a start to the mission, many much-sought pieces of art, such as Victorious Youth, an ancient Greek bronze, are still yet to be found.
