[MSN] Getty Museum director meets with Italians

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Jun. 19, 2006
Getty Museum director meets with Italians
Associated Press


ROME - The director of the J. Paul Getty Museum met with Italian officials
in Rome on Monday, as part of discussions on a possible deal to return
artifacts the Italians claim were illegally smuggled out of the country.

The talks with Getty Director Michael Brand were being held in an "open"
atmosphere, said Maurizio Fiorilli, the lead negotiator for the Italian
Culture Ministry. He added it was unlikely that any deal would be reached
during the session.

Italy has asked for the return of 52 artifacts it believes were stolen,
including a statue of Aphrodite that the Los Angeles museum bought for US$18
million in 1988.

"We have displayed much of our evidence. There is a very open attitude,"
Fiorilli told reporters during a break in the talks. "They are not ready to
close discussions today (Monday), and probably not tomorrow (Tuesday)."

Brand made no comments to reporters during the break in the talks. Later in
the day, he meets with Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli.

The talks are part of a wider Italian effort to crack down on antiquities
trafficking and recover artifacts authorities contend were illegally stolen
or exported from Italy and sold to European and U.S. museums.

A former Getty curator, Marion True, is on trial in Rome accused of having
knowingly purchased stolen artifacts for the museum. True denies any
wrongdoing.

A dispute with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was resolved in
February when the museum agreed to return 21 contested pieces. Italy, in
exchange, agreed to lend the museum objects of comparable importance.

The deal was hailed as a blueprint to resolve similar disputes.

Brand met in January with Culture Ministry officials for talks that were
labeled "productive," but did not end in a deal.

Further complicating the negotiations, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday
that an internal review conducted last year by the Getty found that 350
items in the museum's antiquities collection, including Greek, Roman and
Etruscan artifacts, were bought from dealers that foreign authorities have
identified as convicted of dealing in stolen artifacts or suspected of such.