Restitution of stolen artifacts

In these uncertain times where so many precious archaeological artifacts disappear – if not, are destroyed – it is a pleasure to hear that some tens of thousands antique relics of extraordinary quality are on their way back to their place of origin.

[Picture from The Guardian]

A British antique art dealer, Robin Symes, who had ties with Italian tomb raiders kept a storage unit at the Geneva Freeport warehouse complex in Switzerland where he stashed his huge collection of antiques. The forty-five crates contained precious objects looted in the 1970’s and 1980’s from places all over Italy: from Sicily, Puglia, Campania, and Calabria. The plan was to sell the objects illegally to clients in Japan, Germany, and others.

A coordinated action of Italian and Swiss police made it possible to recover these treasures, among which are several Etruscan painted sarcophagi, one Roman sarcophagus, many marble statues and heads, and floors and walls belonging to a temple. Generally, the objects date to between the 7^th century BC and the 2^nd century AD.

It is hopeful to see these precious artifacts retuning to Italy where they were recently presented to the press. After restoration, they will return to the regions from where they were stolen, but sadly they have been taken out of their context forever.