Marion True

Not long after the Italian government accused Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True of knowingly trafficking in looted artifacts, a group of her friends and colleagues teamed up to vouch for her character. In days, more than three dozen museum directors and top curators added their names to a letter that went to Getty Trust President Barry Munitz in late June. "We want to attest," they wrote, "to the absolute integrity and judgment of our esteemed colleague Marion True."

The trial of former Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True ended in a bureaucratic whimper Wednesday in Rome when a three-judge panel halted the proceedings, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired on criminal charges that she had conspired to traffic in looted art. The development is an ambiguous end to a legal saga that has had a profound effect on American museums. When True was charged by an Italian prosecutor in 2005, it sent shock waves through the art world and was the first time an American museum official had been criminally charged by a foreign government.

In a bitter letter to the J. Paul Getty Trust, former antiquities curator Marion True complained last week that the institution has left her to "carry the burden" for its purchase of apparently looted ancient art. True, on trial in Rome on charges of trafficking looted objects, wrote Dec. 18 that her superiors at the Getty Museum were "fully aware of the risks" of buying antiquities and had approved the acquisitions.

A Greek criminal court on Tuesday dismissed charges against former J. Paul Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True for her role in the purchase of an illegally excavated golden funerary wreath. In an Athens hearing that lasted less than 15 minutes, a three-judge panel agreed with True's attorney that the statute of limitations had expired for the alleged crime. True was not at the proceedings.

The curator of antiquities for the J. Paul Getty Museum bought a vacation home in the Greek islands after one of the museum's main suppliers of ancient art introduced her to a lawyer who arranged a nearly $400,000 loan. The Getty said in a statement Saturday evening that the curator, Marion True, had resigned after museum officials confronted her about the loan, which she obtained in 1995.

Ordinary curators spend their careers in the shadows of museums, caring for collections and emerging only with news of special acquisitions or exhibitions. Marion True, curator of antiquities and trust coordinator of Villa programs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, is not an ordinary curator.

Italian prosecutors told a court Friday that correspondence and other documents show a close relationship between a former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum and an Italian convicted last year of smuggling looted artifacts. The papers, prosecutors said, help prove that the former curator, Marion True, was aware of the illicit origin of objects she acquired for the Los Angeles museum. True and American art dealer Robert E. Hecht Jr.

Looking drawn and subdued, former Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True was whisked into a courtroom here Wednesday where she faced charges of illegally trading in stolen artifacts. It was her first appearance in the much-watched trial, and came as something of a surprise, since the proceedings were largely technical and her presence was not required. Her attorneys have been encouraging her to attend as a show of respect for the Italian judiciary.

In a surprise search Wednesday, Greek authorities seized 17 unregistered artifacts and a Byzantine icon from the vacation house of Marion True, the former J. Paul Getty Museum antiquities curator on trial in Rome on charges she trafficked in looted art. Among the objects seized, only a Hellenistic marble torso is thought to be archeologically significant.

GREECE Greek authorities ordered Marion True, former antiquities curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to post about $19,000 bail, two sources familiar with the case confirmed. True's appearance Wednesday before a Greek magistrate and prosecutors, first reported by the New York Times, was the latest step toward a criminal trial on charges that the former curator conspired to buy an ancient golden funerary wreath that Greek authorities say was illegally excavated.

ROME -- Italy will drop its civil charges against former J. Paul Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True, now on trial here for allegedly trafficking in looted art, Italian authorities announced Tuesday. The announcement came after a subdued ceremony in Rome's Ministry of Culture, where Getty officials confirmed their August pledge to return 40 of the 46 ancient artworks that Italy has claimed were looted and smuggled out of the country before being purchased by the Getty.

GREECE Greek authorities ordered Marion True, former antiquities curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, to post about $19,000 bail, two sources familiar with the case confirmed. True's appearance Wednesday before a Greek magistrate and prosecutors, first reported by the New York Times, was the latest step toward a criminal trial on charges that the former curator conspired to buy an ancient golden funerary wreath that Greek authorities say was illegally excavated.

In a bitter letter to the J. Paul Getty Trust, former antiquities curator Marion True complained last week that the institution has left her to "carry the burden" for its purchase of apparently looted ancient art. True, on trial in Rome on charges of trafficking looted objects, wrote Dec. 18 that her superiors at the Getty Museum were "fully aware of the risks" of buying antiquities and had approved the acquisitions.

One by one, museums in dispute with the Italian government over looted antiquities are reaching agreement. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art signed a deal in February, and talks with Princeton University are said to be well advanced. Alone stands the J. Paul Getty Museum, whose exceedingly complicated negotiations with Rome have been plagued by delays and shown little progress.

In a surprise search Wednesday, Greek authorities seized 17 unregistered artifacts and a Byzantine icon from the vacation house of Marion True, the former J. Paul Getty Museum antiquities curator on trial in Rome on charges she trafficked in looted art. Among the objects seized, only a Hellenistic marble torso is thought to be archeologically significant.

The Italian court trying the former curator of Los Angeles' J. Paul Getty Museum heard testimony Wednesday from a British investigative journalist whose reports over the last decade helped launch Italy's crusade to stop the rampant smuggling of its archeological treasures.

Italian prosecutors in the trial of a former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum on Monday presented dozens of photographs and documents seized from art dealers that they said would prove that the curator knowingly trafficked in looted antiquities. Marion True, forced to quit the Getty in October, is being tried here on charges of criminal conspiracy to receive stolen goods and the illicit receipt of archeological objects. Her co-defendant is Robert E. Hecht Jr.

The Italian court trying the former curator of Los Angeles' J. Paul Getty Museum heard testimony Wednesday from a British investigative journalist whose reports over the last decade helped launch Italy's crusade to stop the rampant smuggling of its archeological treasures.

An American antiquities dealer accused of helping to channel priceless artifacts illegally to the J. Paul Getty Museum appeared for the first time at his trial in a Rome courtroom Friday and said he was being made a scapegoat. Robert E. Hecht Jr., 87, was dismissive of the court and confident of prevailing in the trial, in which his co-defendant is Marion True, former antiquities curator at the Getty. "They hit me in order to hit a system," Hecht told reporters after Friday's hearing.

Italian prosecutors told a court Friday that correspondence and other documents show a close relationship between a former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum and an Italian convicted last year of smuggling looted artifacts. The papers, prosecutors said, help prove that the former curator, Marion True, was aware of the illicit origin of objects she acquired for the Los Angeles museum. True and American art dealer Robert E. Hecht Jr.