4 Getty items back in Italy

Four prized artifacts from the J. Paul Getty Museum in L.A. were returned to Italy on Tuesday, the first of 40 works to be handed over by the Getty as a result of Italy’s efforts to recover antiquities it says were looted and sold to museums.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli announced that the four works, which he said were insured for about $425 million, would be distributed to Italian museums.

The four objects returned Tuesday include a red-figured ceramic vase known as a kantharos, with masks of Dionysos and a satyr. The work, which is believed to date from 480 BC, is attributed to Euphronios.

The other Getty artifacts include a fragment of a wall fresco from the 1st century BC depicting Hercules; an Etruscan terra-cotta statue from the 5th century BC; and a vase depicting a garden scene dating from 350 BC and attributed to the potter Asteas.