J Paul Getty Museum

While reaffirming that it still intends to transfer ownership of one of its most prized artifacts, a statue of the goddess Aphrodite, to Italy, the J. Paul Getty Museum says it will convene a panel of scholars in two months to plan scientific detective work needed to settle unanswered questions concerning the piece, which the Italian government claims as a looted antiquity.

A medieval gilt-copper and enamel relief of Christ, thought to have come from a Spanish cathedral, and a 19th century portrait of a lady in her pink velvet dressing gown by French artist James Jacques Joseph Tissot have joined the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The new acquisitions -- purchased privately for undisclosed sums in an ongoing effort to build the relatively young institution's art holdings -- will go on view in May at the Getty Center in Brentwood.

Karol Wight, a 22-year veteran of the J. Paul Getty Museum, was named its antiquities curator Wednesday. She succeeds her beleaguered former boss, Marion True, whose job she has held on an acting basis since True's resignation under fire in October 2005.

Days before a threatened cultural embargo was scheduled to take effect, the J. Paul Getty Museum has resumed negotiations with the Italian government over 46 of the museum's disputed antiquities -- opening the door to a possible agreement. In an exchange described by a Getty official as "intense" and "useful," the museum has exchanged letters with Italy's minister of culture, exploring possible settlements of the dispute, authorities from both sides confirmed Monday.

A day after the J. Paul Getty Museum announced the return of 40 prized artifacts to Italy, a sense of relief swept across the Getty Center's Brentwood campus, home to the Getty Trust and three other programs that had been largely overshadowed by the museum's antiquities scandal. Many who work at the Getty said the accord Wednesday closed not just the painful dispute over allegedly looted artifacts but a period of relentless controversy under the trust's former chief executive, Barry Munitz.

What's new at the J. Paul Getty Museum? A batch of artworks acquired by curatorial sleuthing, big-budget shopping and adroit deal-making -- in one case involving the restitution of Nazi loot.

An Italian judge Monday rejected the request of a local cultural group to seize an ancient bronze from the J. Paul Getty Museum, further increasing the chances that the prized statue will stay in Los Angeles. The Getty Bronze, a 4th century BC statue of a young athlete, has been fought over since Italian fishermen discovered it in international waters in 1964.

The J. Paul Getty Museum might seem a logical buyer for the rare and expensive ensemble of great Klimt paintings currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art -- but actually it's not. The museum's collection of European paintings predates the 20th century. However, that restriction does not prohibit the Getty Trust -- the museum's parent organization -- from acquiring art.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, aiming to deepen its collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens in his prime, has made its first major acquisition since the January arrival of Michael Brand as director. The work, "The Calydonian Boar Hunt," was painted on an oak panel, 23 1/4 by 35 5/8 inches, apparently in 1611 or 1612. "It just shows to me a great master in his absolute peak form -- how magical painting can be, that deftness of touch," Brand said.