Antiques, archival, numismatic and above all archaeological goods from the period from the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD In all 600 works of art repatriated from the United States by Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Tpc). This is the heritage, with an estimated value of approximately 60 million euros, presented today in Rome, at the Central Institute for Restoration, during a ceremony attended by the Undersecretary of Culture, Gianmarco Mazzi, the Commander of the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Francesco Gargaro, the head of the Manhattan Prosecutor’s Office, Matthew Bogdanos , the commander of the Mobile and Specialized Units of the Carabinieri, Massimo Mennitti and the United States ambassador in Rome, Jack Markell. These are assets, the subject of clandestine excavations in central-southern Italy and thefts against churches, museums and private individuals, brought back to our country thanks to numerous investigations conducted by the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Command with various national public prosecutor’s offices, assisted by the New York District Attorney’s Office and the US Homeland Security Investigations.
“Today – said the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano – it is a beautiful day for the nation’s cultural heritage due to the return home of hundreds of works of art stolen and illicitly exported abroad. Thanks to the irreplaceable action of the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, a true investigative excellence of the Nation, together with the precious collaboration of the US authorities, we are registering further success on this front”.
“Bringing these assets back to Italy – added the minister – will also make it possible to heal many wounds that have opened over the years in the territories where they were stolen, depriving the communities of important pieces of their identity. Fundamental, even in this long and complex activity , was the MiC’s ‘Database of illicitly stolen cultural assets’, which represents the largest archive in the world of stolen art assets, with information on over 7 million objects registered, of which over 1.3 million works to be researched,” he underlined.
Therefore, many goods have returned to our country, including: a mosaic depicting the myth of Orpheus enchanting wild animals with the sound of the lyre, mid-3rd – mid-4th century AD, located by the District Attorney’s Office in the private collection of a collector from New York, found to be the result of illicit excavations that took place in Sicily before 1991; a silver tetradrachm from Naxos, 4th century BC, depicting the wine gods Dionysus on the obverse and Silenus on the reverse, the result of illicit excavations that took place before 2013 in Sicily and subsequently clandestinely exported to the United Kingdom.
The property was located and seized in New York in 2023 where it was for sale at $500,000; a cuirass and two bronze heads dating back to the 4th-3rd century BC, located by the District Attorney’s Office in the possession of a well-known gallery owner in New York, then seized because they turned out to be the proceeds of clandestine excavations that took place in central-southern Italy; hundreds of masterpieces, of high economic value, looted by ‘tomb robbers’ throughout the Peninsula: Villanovan vases, Etruscan buccheri and painted slabs, Apulian amphorae and kraters, silver cups, marble and bronze heads, entire funerary objects uprooted from their original context.
And again, among the repatriated goods, there are also a breastplate and two bronze heads dating back to the 4th-3rd century BC, located by the District Attorney’s Office “in the availability of a well-known gallery owner in New York”. Assets seized because they were the result of clandestine excavations that took place in central-southern Italy. “The return to Italy of cultural assets of such importance both for their numerical consistency and for their historical and artistic value is a significant achievement”, stated the Undersecretary of Culture Decks who added: “In addition to being works of art of inestimable value, they represent the high expression of our history, our culture and our national identity”.
According to Mazzi, “every recovery contributes to strengthening us by returning broken fragments of our historical heritage to our heritage. Today’s ceremony is also concrete testimony to the strength of international cooperation with the United States of America which is our reference ally in many essential challenges for the present and future of Italy, and the collaboration between the two governments is excellent. The fight against international trafficking of cultural goods is a flagship of this collaboration.”
“We share – observed Mazzi – common principles and values with the American government: the protection of cultural heritage as an element of identity of a people and a nation, the fight against crime which, as Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino taught us, has no borders and must be fought together by states on a bilateral and multilateral level. This is what we do with the United States and we will present this reference model at the meeting of G7 culture ministers to be held in September in Naples”. The US ambassador wanted to “particularly thank Italy for the technical assistance that will be provided for the restoration of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Odessa”.