[CPProt.net] Colonial artwork stolen in 2002 returned toPeru

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Colonial artwork stolen in 2002 returned to Peru
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published July 27, 2005

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents yesterday returned to the
Peruvian government a 16th-century colonial masterpiece, El Altar de
Challapampa, which was stolen from that country in 2002. 
    John P. Clark, ICE deputy assistant secretary, and Eduardo Ferrero, the
Peruvian ambassador to the United States, announced the return in a joint
statement, saying the altarpiece had been stolen from its temporary location
near Lake Titicaca at Challapampa, Peru. 
    It was discovered in May 2003 after agents at the ICE field office in
New York began an investigation, locating the piece in Santa Fe, N.M., at
Ron Messick Fine Arts and Antiquities. 
    ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi said the New York agents worked closely with
the Washington, D.C., Interpol office and the U.S. attorney's office in New
York, seeking a criminal complaint in the theft against Ron Messick. 
    But charges later were dropped when Mr. Messick died. 
    Mr. Raimondi said executors of Mr. Messick's estate voluntarily
surrendered the artifact to the Department of Homeland Security and it was
stored in El Paso, Texas. 
    "This altarpiece is on its way back to its rightful place," Mr. Clark
said. "By seizing and returning El Altar de Challapampa, we transform it
from a plundered artifact to a symbol of what cooperation and a mutual
respect of cultural treasures between nations can bring." 
    Mr. Ferrero described the return of the artwork as the result of the
coordinated work among U.S. authorities at all levels and the government of
Peru. 
    "This case serves as a warning for those who consider a nation's
cultural artifacts mere commodities to be bought and sold," Mr. Ferrero
said. "We will vigorously pursue these thefts and work with our
international partners to hold those responsible accountable for their
actions." 
    Mr. Raimondi said Bernardo Bitti, an Italian Jesuit missionary, painted
and gilded El Altar de Challapampa in the late 16th century after it was
carved by sculptor Pedro de Vargas. He said the altarpiece is a polychrome
wooden carving of the angels Michael and Gabriel beneath a crucifixion in
four large pieces. 
    The artifact weighs more than 800 pounds and stands nearly 12 feet high
when assembled, he said. 
    The recovery and repatriation of the altar came in accordance with a
memorandum of understanding between the governments of the United States and
Peru concerning the imposition of import restrictions on archaeological
material from the pre-Hispanic cultures and under the Convention on Cultural
Property Implementation Act. 
    Homeland Security has law-enforcement-implementing authority under the
act.  



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