The Getty will return a cache of illegally sourced ancient sculptures to Italy, including a prized depiction of the poet Orpheus:
. The unit and its chief, Matthew Bogdanos, seized the sculptures in April. The Trafficking Unit’s warrant listed the value of the three sculptures at“Thanks to information provided by Matthew Bogdanos and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office indicating the illegal excavation of, we determined that these objects should be returned,” Getty Museum director Timothy Potts said in a statement.
By the time the statues were confiscated this year, the museum had already engaged in discussions about repatriating those and other relics. Research conducted by Getty and independent scholars determined that four additional artworks, none of which have been displayed in recent years, were also eligible for return to Italy. These include a marble head and stone mold for casting pendants, both from the second century AD; an 1881 oil painting by Camillo Miola; and a fourth-century BCE Etruscan bronze thymiaterion, or incense burner.
The first three objects were acquired by Getty in the 1970s, the museum said, while the thymiaterion was purchased in 1996. The institution said it was working with the Italian Culture Ministry to determine a date of return for these artifacts.