Trafficking in Antiquities—J. Paul Getty Museum

Italy is demanding the return of 42 objects in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection which they believe were stolen, including ancient urns, vases, and a 5-foot marble statue of Apollo.^[1] Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times ran a story that claimed that internal documents of the museum acknowledged knowing as early as 1985 that some of the artifacts in the museum were obtained from sellers who had probably stolen them.^[2] In all, it is estimated that nearly half the masterpieces in the Getty’s antiquities collection were stolen or looted long after Italy made it illegal to sell artifacts from Italian ruins.^[3]

Today, the museum claims that the documents on which the L.A. Times based its report were stolen from the museum’s files.^[4]

We previously discussed trafficking in antiquities yesterday.

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[1] Paper: Getty Bought From Suspected Looters, Associated Press, Sept. 25, 2005, available here.
[2] Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art, Documents Show, L.A. Times, Sept. 25, 2005, available here.
[3] Id.
[4] Getty: Art Story Used Stolen Papers, Monterey County Herald, Sept. 27, 2005, available here.