Italy claims seven probably looted antiquities from the Louvre

Italy is asking the Louvre for the return of seven pieces of antiquity probably looted before their acquisition, the Parisian museum told AFP on Friday, confirming information from Le Monde . The daily revealed "an instruction still in progress" to determine with certainty the route of these parts.

According to this information, this investigation “could lead in the fall to a historic agreement between France and Italy” allowing the return of these works to the peninsula. A spokeswoman for the Louvre told AFP that the list was sent in February by the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, who came to prepare the Naples exhibition in Paris: the Louvre invites the Capodimonte museum. This list is not public.

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“I consider that works that have a dubious provenance are a stain in the collections of the Louvre. We must assume and examine this with rigor and lucidity,” Louvre president Laurence des Cars told Le Monde. Entrusted to the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, these pieces were purchased by the Louvre between 1982 and 1995. They have in common that they passed through the hands of Italian art dealers convicted or suspected of trafficking in antiquities, Giacomo Medici, Gianfranco Becchina and Edoardo Almagia.

According to Le Monde, the most iconic is a 5th-century BC amphora attributed to the “Painter of Berlin” (the city where this Greek artist’s recognizable style was authenticated). There are also Greek vases by the "Painter of Ixion" (4th century BC) and in the manner of the "Painter of Antimenes" (6th century BC). Contacted by AFP, the Italian Ministry of Culture did not respond immediately.