Dealer gives looted art back to Italy
Italian authorities claimed another victory in their campaign against the illegal antiquities market Tuesday, unveiling eight Etruscan or Roman artifacts they say were looted from the country and returned by a New York art dealer.
The ancient treasures, including a Roman statue, bronze figurines and exquisitely painted vases, were worth more than $500,000 and were bought at auctions by New York dealer Jerome Eisenberg, Italian officials said.
Eisenberg was not aware that the pieces were stolen from Italian museums during the 1970s or illegally dug up, said Gen. Giovanni Nistri, who heads the art squad of the Carabinieri paramilitary police.
When Italian authorities showed Eisenberg evidence of the looting, “he saw it was right to return them,” Nistri said at a presentation in Rome of the retrieved treasures. They were returned over the last few months.
“It was the right thing to do and maybe it will set an example for other people,” said Eisenberg, who runs galleries in New York and London.
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