ROME — Extending their reach beyond the J. Paul Getty Museum, Italian authorities have used confiscated photographs to trace six pieces of allegedly looted ancient Greek pottery to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
According to Italian court records, prosecutors also have photographs showing eight other allegedly looted objects that are part of the private collection of Shelby White, a Met board member, and her late husband, financier Leon Levy.
The couple donated $20 million to the Met to build a Roman and Greek court in their name. Museum experts have speculated that the space is most likely being built to house the Levy-White collection.
Looted antiquities -- Photographs published in Saturday's Section A with a story about looted antiquities were incorrectly identified in the caption as showing an object in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The object, a bronze statue of a Greek youth, is in the private collection of Leon Levy and Shelby White.
If the Met eventually acquires the collection, one of the most significant still in private hands, the Italian photographs could become a complicating factor, the experts said.
Both the Met and White declined to comment this week.
Italian authorities allege that the objects identified at the Met and in the Levy-White collection were among thousands illegally excavated from tombs and ruins and smuggled out of the country long after a 1939 Italian law prohibited the unauthorized export of antiquities.
The objects represent only a small fraction of both collections, but are cited in Italian court records as proof that Giacomo Medici, an Italian dealer based in Switzerland, sold objects that ended up in the collections. The photographs -- neatly cataloged Polaroids -- were confiscated during a 1995 raid on his Geneva warehouse.
As such, the Italian evidence widens the controversy regarding allegedly looted antiquities far beyond the Getty, which so far has been the only institution publicly singled out by Italian prosecutors.
Medici was convicted last year of trafficking in looted antiquities and is appealing a 10-year prison sentence. His co-defendants, Robert E. Hecht Jr., an American antiquities dealer, and Marion True, the Getty's former antiquities curator, face trial next month.
The Italians charged True with conspiracy to traffic in stolen artifacts after identifying 42 antiquities at the Getty that they believe were looted. They are demanding that the antiquities be returned.
Italian officials said in Rome in recent interviews that they will continue to gather evidence against the Met and other museums but are undecided whether to press charges or use the information as leverage in negotiations for the return of some items.
- Cleveland Museum of Art will return artifacts to Italy Nov 20, 2008
- Several Museums May Possess Looted Art Nov 08, 2005
- Met: U.S. isn't the only looter Apr 18, 2006
