Italy Widens Demands, Snarling Talks With Getty

Both sides said they had failed to reach agreement in nearly 12 hours of negotiations that began Monday, and additional dialogue expected today would be of a narrower scope, focusing on technical matters.

Getty representatives were keen to reach an accord on 52 valuable statues, vases and other antiquities that Italy maintains were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country. Many are on display at the newly restored Getty Villa in Malibu. Getty trustees authorized their lawyers to offer Italy 21 items.

But instead of an agreement, the Italians made a new demand. In addition to the 52 objects, Italy wants 33 other antiquities to be returned, said Italian lead negotiator Maurizio Fiorilli, a state attorney. The Italian officials said they reserved the right to expand their list.

With the two sides clearly at an impasse, Getty representatives abandoned the Italian Culture Ministry, where the negotiations took place, limiting themselves to brief comments. Overall, the mood at the ministry was subdued, as hope for an early deal faded.

Lead attorney Ronald Olson, who had spoken in upbeat terms a day earlier, said only, "We've had very pleasant conversations about Rome and Los Angeles weather."

The second day of talks began Tuesday afternoon and dragged on late into the night. At the conclusion, and after the Getty lawyers had departed, the Italians issued a unilateral statement.

"A final agreement is being developed with a view to resolving claims to all disputed objects," said the statement, which Fiorilli read to a small group of reporters.

The agreement will be aimed at "defining a future relationship premised on respect for Italy's cultural and legal rights, scholarly and public access to great works of art and shared conservation efforts," he said.

He said technical negotiations would begin today and continue through the summer, and that he hoped to reach an agreement by Sept. 1.

Fiorilli did not describe the additional 33 antiquities but said Getty had obtained them through the same network of unscrupulous art dealers who supplied the original 52 items, which include some of the Getty's most prized treasures. Two of those dealers are co-defendants with the Getty's former antiquities curator, Marion True, who is on trial in Rome on smuggling-conspiracy charges.