Feb 11, 2010

Italian Appeals Court Orders the Return of the Getty Bronze

A surprising ruling today by Judge Mussoni in the case involving this statute, known as "The Bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth" currently on display at the Getty Villa in Malibu.  I've looked at the merits of Italy's repatriation case in some detail before, here and here.  Essentially, this Bronze was found in the Adriatic in the 1960's, and Italian fishermen and others smuggled the work abroad.  It was eventually purchased by the Getty.  Criminal proceedings were brought against some of the smugglers decades ago, but they were never convicted.  

The present case was brought by the Italian government, seeking a forfeiture of the statue.  The Getty has indicated it will appeal; but the confiscation order will take effect immediately according to Maurizio Fiorilli, an attorney representing the Italian government.  There are a few hurdles to be crossed before the Getty has to pack up the Bronze and ship it to Italy however.

I haven't had time to research the legal specifics yet, but I would like to offer some tentative observations.  First, I do not see how the Italian court has jurisdiction over the statue; and getting it returned will require the cooperation of the State Department or Department of Justice.  Second, this case presents a unique situation.  I'm not aware of any case in which a nation of origin brings suit in a domestic court to seek the return of an object from abroad.  If the Italians are successful in securing the return of the bronze, it would rewrite the law governing repatriation in many respects.  But finally, none of the law may matter.  As I've argued before, the court of public opinion is often the most important arbiter in many of these cases.  Italy would seem to have a difficult time compelling the State Department or DOJ to compel the Getty to ship the Bronze to Italy; but they could impose a kind of cultural embargo on the Getty, or on other American archaeologists if they want to force the repatriation of the Bronze.

It should come as no surprise then that the Getty's Press Release this afternoon was critical of the decision:

The Getty is disappointed in the ruling issued February 11 by Judge [Lorena] Mussoni in Pesaro, Italy, involving the Statue of a Victorious Youth, often referred to as the Getty Bronze. The court's order is flawed both procedurally and substantively.
It should be noted that the same court in Pesaro dismissed an earlier case in 2007 in which the same prosecutor claimed the Statue of a Victorious Youth belonged to Italy. In that case, the judge held that the statute of limitations had long since expired, that there was no one to prosecute under Italian law, and that the Getty was to be considered a good faith owner.
In fact, no Italian court has ever found any person guilty of any criminal activity in connection with the export or sale of the statue. To the contrary, Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation, held more than four decades ago that the possession by the original owners 'did not constitute a crime.
The Getty will appeal the Pesaro court's order to the Court of Cassation in Rome and will vigorously defend its legal ownership of the statue.


  1. Court orders seizure of Getty bronze, ANSA, Feb. 11, 2010.  
  2. Nicole Winfield, Italian court orders contested bronze statue confiscated from Getty Museum, CP, Feb. 11, 2010.  

2 comments:

Mark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Derek, I agree with your past posts that much of the Italian argument and case rests on their ability to establish the fact that the statue came from Italian waters. Could they be a step closer somehow to proving this? If they are not, and the work were to be returned, then it would set a dangerous precedent for future claims.

Was this in any way caused by the recent article published by the LATimes implying Getty's own concerns over a questionable bronze that was assumed to be the "Victorious Youth", but was later corrected as not having been this bronze in particular?

I think from an archaeological and criminological view that it's more critical to expend resources on preventing or at least reducing the illicit trade in art and antiquities rather than recover what has already been lost. Furthermore, I think often is the case that culturally rich source countries will play the victim while not acknowledging their own looting pasts.

Labels

"Bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth" (17) 1954 Hague Convention (12) 1972 World Heritage Convention (1) Aboriginal Heritage (1) Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) (2) act of state doctrine (1) Admiralty Law (11) Afghanistan (10) Africa (4) Albright-Knox Gallery (3) Aleppo (2) Alfred Stieglitz (2) Alternative Dispute Resolution (1) Angkor (1) Anti-Seizure Legislation (1) antiquites (3) antiquities (337) Antiquities Act 1906 (2) Antiquities leasing (10) antiquities looting (4) antiquities smuggling (3) antiquities theft (6) ARCA (8) ARCA Annual Conference (10) ARCA MA Program (6) Archaeological Resources Protection Act (5) Archival Recovery Team (ART) (3) Archives (1) Armed Conflict (22) Arrests (79) Art and Cultural Heritage Law (1) Art Beat Constables (9) Art Crime Statistics (1) art fraud (9) art history (1) Art Institute Chicago (3) art law (1) Art Loans (9) Art Loss Register (19) Art Market (10) Art Theft (263) Artist Resale Right (1) arts funding (1) Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) (8) Athens (3) Auction (99) austerity (2) Australia (7) Austria (3) Authentication (3) Babylon (3) Banksy (1) Big Bend National Park (1) bilateral agreements (2) Black Hills (1) Bolton Forgers (4) Book Theft (3) Brazil (5) British Museum (13) Bronze (5) Bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth (1) Brueghel (1) Bruno Lohse (3) Brussels (1) Bührle Collection Theft (4) Bulgaria (4) Burke and Wills (2) Burns Mummies (1) Byzantine Artifacts (4) Cairo (1) Cairo art theft (2) California Raids (6) Caligula (1) Cambodia (11) Camille Pissarro (7) Carabinieri (6) Caravaggio (1) catalogue raisonné (1) Cellini Salt Cellar (2) Central Park (1) Cerveteri (1) Chance Finds (3) Charles Goldie (1) Chihuly Glass (1) China (16) Christie's (14) Church Thefts (6) Civil War (2) Claude Monet (4) Claudia Seger-Thomschitz (3) Cleveland Bronze Apollo (2) Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) (5) Coins (7) Colonial Art (1) Columbia (1) Conferences (7) Conservation (1) Conventions (1) Copyright (5) Corot (1) Corrections (1) cosmpoplitanism (4) Costa Rica (2) CPIA (10) criminal charges (5) criminology (1) Crystal Bridges Museum (5) Cultral Property Advisory Committee (9) Cultural First Aid (2) cultural heritage (6) cultural heritage careers (2) Cultural Heritage Moot Court Competition (2) Cultural heritage movement (1) cultural justice (3) cultural policy (18) cultural property (4) Cultural Resource Management (1) cultural security (1) culture funding (1) curatorial theft (2) Cycladic Figurines (1) Cyprus (9) Dahshour (1) Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) (2) Database (5) Databases (4) DCMS (2) Deaccessioning (24) Dead Sea Scrolls (1) Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 (4) Declaratory Suits (4) Demand and Refusal (2) Design and Artists Copyright Society (1) Detroit Institute of Art (1) development (1) Dick Ellis (2) Diplomatic Bags (1) Doctrine of Discovery (3) Donald Trump (3) Donny George Youkhanna (2) Dr. No (6) Droite de Suite (2) Dubai (1) due diligence (5) eBay (5) Economics (1) Ecuador (1) Edgar Degas (2) Edinburgh (1) Edoardo Almagia (1) Edvard Munch (2) Egon Schiele (4) Egypt (55) El-Hibeh (2) Elgin Marbles (5) empirical studies (1) England (4) environmental justice (4) Environmental law (2) Erik Nemeth (1) Etruscans (2) Euphronios Krater (4) European Court of Human Rights (1) Export Restrictions (19) Fakes (6) FBI (16) FBI Art Crime Team (16) Festivus (1) Fifth Circuit (1) fire (1) Fisk University (3) Footnotes (59) force multiplier (1) Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) (6) forfeiture (13) Forgery (27) fossils (2) Four Corners Antiquities Investigation (11) fractional ownership (2) Francavilla Marittima (1) France (30) Francesco Rutelli (15) Frans van Mieris (2) Frederick Schultz (3) freedman's town (2) Gaza (1) George Grosz (1) Georgia (1) Georgia O'Keeffe (2) Germanicus (2) Germany (16) Getty (1) Ghent Altarpiece (1) Giacomo Medici (6) Gianfranco Becchina (1) Golf (3) good faith (3) Goya (3) Goya theft (4) graffiti (1) Greece (38) Grosz (1) Henri Matisse (1) Henry Moore (1) Heritage at Risk (1) heritage crime (1) Heritage Crime in Art (1) Hermitage (2) High Court in London (4) historic documents (1) Historic Landmark (1) historic preservation (1) historic weapons (1) Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act (2) Hopi (1) House of Commons Illicit Trade Advisory Panel (ITAP) (1) Houston (2) Howard Spiegler (2) Human Remains (5) Human Rights (1) Hungary (1) Identification (1) illicit excavation (1) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (16) Immunity (6) Immunity from Seizure Act (ISA) (3) import restrictions (3) in the media (7) Indemnity (1) Indianapolis Museum of Art (5) indictments (5) Indigenous Rights (2) Indonesia (1) injunctions (1) Insider Theft (2) Institute d'Egypte (1) Institute of Art and Law (1) Institutional theft (1) Intellectual Property (4) Intentional Destruction (6) International Criminal Court (ICC) (1) International Journal of Cultural Property (1) internationalism (4) INTERPOL (1) Interview (2) Interviews (2) Iran (8) Iran v. Barakat Galleries Ltd. (6) Iran v. Berend (3) Iraq (46) Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum (7) Islamic art (2) Israel (4) Istanbul (2) Italian Art Squad (5) Italian Culture Ministry (6) Italy (122) Jacques Goudstikker (4) James Ossuary (1) Jan Breugel the elder (2) Jan van Eyck (1) Japan (3) Jeanneret v. Vichy (1) Jeff Tweedy (1) Jenack v. Rabizadeh (1) JMW Turner (2) John Constable (1) Jonah Marbles (1) Jonathan Tokeley-Parry (1) Jordan (2) Joseph Farquharson (2) Journal Articles (1) Journal of Art Crime (1) Ka-Nefer-Nefer (9) Kansas (2) Kansas City (1) Kazimir Malevich (3) Kenya (1) Kingsland (3) Klimt (3) Koh Ker (6) Konowaloff v. Metropolitan Museum of Art (1) Kunsthal Museum Theft (2) La Dea Di Morgantina (6) Lawrence Kaye (1) Lebanon (1) Leonardo Da Vinci (9) Leopold Museum (1) Lewis Chessmen (5) lex originis (3) lex situs (5) Libya (2) Lincoln's Inn theft (1) Lithographs (1) loans (5) London (6) London Art and Antiques Unit (7) London Metropolitan Police (2) loot (1) looting (30) Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (2) Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) (1) LS Lowry (3) Lucas Cranach (1) Lucas Cranach the Elder (3) Lucian Freud (1) Macedonia (1) Machu Picchu (12) Madonna of the Yarnwinder (recovery) (9) Mali (4) Malta (1) Manchester (2) manuscript (1) Maori (2) maps (2) Marc Chagall (1) Marion True (25) Mark Landis (1) market overt (1) Mausoleum at Helicarnassus (1) Max Stern (3) Maxwell Anderson (3) metal detecting (6) Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) (29) Mexico (9) Meyer de Haan (1) MFA Boston (6) Michael Brand (3) Michael C. Carlos Museum (1) Michael Steinhardt (2) Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities (MEGA) (1) Minneapolis Institue of Arts (MIA) (1) Moctezuma's Headdress (1) Modigliani (2) MoMA (4) Mondrian (1) Monet (3) Montreal Museum of Fine Art (2) Monument Men (5) Monuments Men (1) Moral Rights (3) Morgantina (2) Morgantina Aphrodite (9) Morgantina Treasure (1) Moscow (2) Musée d'Art Moderne theft (1) Museum Acquisitions (1) Museum Governance (1) Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (1) Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (6) museum security (2) museum theft (2) Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) (1) Music (2) Myth (1) Napoleon III (1) National Academy (2) National Archaeological Museum in Naples (1) National Archives (3) National Gallery (Washington) (1) National Historic Preservation Act (2) National Stolen Property Act (8) nations of origin (5) Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (8) Native Americans (17) native cultures (2) Nazi Spoliation (74) Neglect (1) Neil Brodie (1) Nelson-Atkins' Bloch Building (1) Netherlands (10) New Acropolis Museum (3) New Orleans (4) New York (6) New Zealand (7) Nigeria (1) nighthawking (3) Noah Charney (1) Norbert Schimmel (1) Norman Palmer (1) Norman Rockwell (2) Norway (4) NSPA (1) Nuclear Analytical Techniques (1) Odyssey Marine Exploration (23) Olympics (2) Omaha Nebraska (1) Organized Crime (1) Orphaned Works (2) Oskar Kokoschka (2) Oslo (1) Pablo Picasso (16) Pakistan (2) Palestine (3) Panama (1) Paolo Ferri (2) Paris (10) partage (1) Parthenon Marbles (17) Patents (1) Patty Gerstenblith (1) Paul Bator (2) Paul Cezanne (5) Paul Gauguin (4) Pazardzhik Byzantine Silver Hoard (1) Penn Museum (1) Pentagon (1) Pere Lachaise (1) Persepolis (3) Peru (24) Peru Headdress (1) Peter Watson (1) Philadelphia (7) Phillipines (1) Picasso (9) Pierre Le Guennec (1) Pierre Valentin (1) piracy (1) Pollock (1) Pompeii (3) Popular Culture (1) Portable Antiquities Scheme (25) Portrait of Wally (11) Poussin (1) pre-Columbian antiquities (2) pre-emptive archaeology (1) Prince Claus Fund (1) Princeton (4) Private Collectors (2) Private International Law (5) Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (UK) (1) Prosecutions (7) provenance (13) Prussia (1) Public Art Theft (5) Public Trust (1) Publications (2) Quran (1) Radio (2) Ransom (2) realkulturpolitik (1) recovery (45) Rembrandt (2) Rene Magritte (2) Renoir (2) Renvoi (3) repatriation (121) Restitution (40) reward (1) Rhodes (1) Robert Hecht (8) Robin Symes (1) Rodin (2) Roger Atwood (1) Roman Objects (2) Rome (3) Rothko (1) Royal Academy (1) Rubens (3) Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran (2) Russia (11) Sale of "The Cello Player" (1) Sale of the "Gross Clinic" (11) Sale of the Stieglitz Collection (4) Salvage (1) Sao Paulo (2) Sao Paulo Museum of Art (3) Scheduled Ancient Monuments (1) Scholarship - Articles and Essays (57) Scholarship - Book Reviews (3) Scholarship - Books (12) Scholarship - Case Notes (1) Scholarship - Events and Conferences (55) Scholarship - Journal Articles (12) Scholarship - Student Papers (16) Scotland (7) Scotland Yard's Arts and Antiques Squad (1) scrap metal (1) Sculpture (2) security (4) seizure (16) Selling stolen art (1) seminars (1) semiotics (1) Sentencing (2) Serbia (1) settlement (1) Sevso Treasure (6) Shelby White (3) shipwreck (1) Sicily (4) Simon Mackenzie (2) Sisley (4) Slovakia (1) Smithsonian (4) Solomon R. Guggenheim (1) Sonic Fingerprints (1) Sotheby's (13) Sotheby's Paris (1) South Africa (1) South America (1) Spain (21) Spoliation (2) Spoliation Advisory Panel (8) St. Louis Art Museum (8) St. Ninian's Isle Treasure (3) Stair Gallery (2) State Department (2) Statue of a Victorious Youth (1) statute of frauds (1) Statutes of Limitations (10) Stephane Breitwieser (1) Stephen Colbert (1) Steven Spielberg (1) stewardship (2) Stolen Art (11) Stone Age (1) street art (1) study collections (1) Summer Palace Bronzes (7) Sweden (2) Switzerland (13) Syria (7) Taliban (1) Tennessee (3) The Art Fund (1) The Bowers Museum (1) The Discovery Rule (4) the fourth ward (1) The Getty (58) The Gross Clinic (1) The Guggenheim (2) The Holocauset (stolen art) restitution bill (2) the Louvre (2) The Menil (4) The National Gallery (1) The National Gallery (London) (2) the Pirate Party (1) The Scream (1) theft (2) Thomas Eakins (9) Thomas Jefferson (1) Timbuktu (2) Titian (1) Toledo Museum of Art (4) tombaroli (2) tourism (1) transparency (1) Traprain Law (1) Traveling Exhibitions (2) Treasure Act (4) treasure trove (3) Turkey (11) UCC (1) Ukraine (2) UN (2) Underground Salt Museum (1) Underwater Cultural Heritage (32) Underwater Sites - "Black Swan" (3) Underwater Sites - "Blue Baron" (1) Underwater Sites - HMS Victory (3) UNESCO (23) UNESCO Convention (24) UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (9) UNIDROIT Convention (2) United Kingdom (24) United States (12) University College London (1) University of Chicago (1) University of Guelph (1) University of Virginia (3) urban development (1) Van Gogh (7) Vandalism (4) Vatican (1) Vermeer (2) Victoria And Albert Museum (3) Vigango (3) viking (1) Villa Giulia (3) Vineberg v. Bissonnette (4) Visual Artists Rights Act (2) voluntary returns (1) Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena (3) Watts Towers (1) Waverley Criteria (10) Week in Review (3) West Bank (1) wikiloot (1) Wilco (1) William S. Burroughs (1) Windsor Antiquities Indictment (1) World Heritage Sites (1) World War II (11) Yale University (13) year in review (2) Zahi Hawass (9)

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...