[CPProt.net] GREEK Statue Stolen During WWII Returned

[Ellie Bruggeman]

GREEK Statue Stolen During WWII Returned


Authorities cheered the return Thursday of a tiny, 2,600-year-old statue 
stolen during World War II, and said the news should offer hope to 
antiquity officials in Iraq as well.

They also said the statue's return should send a message to the British 
Museum, which currently has the Parthenon Marbles - a collection of 
Greek sculptures taken from the Parthenon in 1811.

A British ancient art dealer returned the tiny statue of a smiling, 
long-haired youth after realizing the piece had been stolen from the 
Aegean Sea island of Samos during World War II. Greece was occupied by 
forces from Germany, Italy and Bulgaria during the war.

James Ede, chairman of the London-based International Association of 
Dealers in Ancient Art, bought the 4 1/2-inch bronze figure from the 
widow of a Greek art collector who lived in Switzerland. He turned it 
over to the Greek Embassy in London and accompanied the statue on its 
flight home.
Greek Statue Stolen During WWII Returned

The piece will be displayed at the archaeological museum of Samos.

"I'm very proud to be able to return this little statuette to this 
museum," Ede said at a ceremony in Athens.

"What you have done is fantastic. Thank you very, very much," said Fani 
Palli-Petralia, deputy culture minister, who refused to handle the 
statue for fear of damaging it.

Greece has sought for years to recover other objects, including a series 
of statues and fragments removed from Athens' Parthenon by Lord Elgin, 
the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and later sold to the 
British Museum.

The museum has refused to return the objects - known as the Elgin 
Marbles - even on loan.

"I can't help but draw a comparison with the Parthenon Marbles," said 
Palli-Petralia. "I hope your example will be followed by others, like 
the British Museum."

Greece argues the Elgin Marbles are an integral part of the 
2,500-year-old Athens monument, but failed in a bid to have them on 
display here for the Olympics last summer.

"I can't comment on the wider issues of restitution but I think you can 
feel that my heart is in the right place," Ede said.

He said the tiny statue also carried a message for Iraq.

Thousands of ancient items were stolen from the Iraqi National Museum in 
Baghdad and other sites following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"I think the dispersal of our cultures helps us understand and love each 
other and is a good thing but this must be a legal process," Ede said. 
"We will continue to fight the illegal trade. ... With war, civil 
strife, and upheavals around the world - not least in Baghdad - the duty 
that we have will become greater and greater."

The statue has been valued at about $55,000.

http://www.the-dispatch.com