‘Orpheus and the Sirens’ will arrive in Rome in September after investigations confirm its excavation and illicit appropriation
The Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles will return to Italy illegally excavated sculptures that J. Paul Getty, the US oil tycoon, irregularly obtained in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Time has reported.
‘Orpheus and the Sirens’ is the name given to the sculpture group that has three life-size terracotta pieces of great historical and artistic value. For years it has been one of the most relevant and long-lived pieces exhibited in the museum. Julie Jaksol, a spokeswoman for the museum, has reported in a statement that the three pieces are from the fourth century BC as well as being “extremely fragile.” For this reason, the return of these figures to Rome, which will be in September after an agreement between the Los Angeles museum and the Italian Ministry of Culture, will have “equipment and processes uniquely designed for it.”
The authorities, as well as the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan prosecutor’s office in New York, have carried out a judicial investigation on the subject, although it is not related to the Getty Museum. As Jaksol has indicated, the tests confirmed that the statues had been excavated and obtained illegally and the most appropriate thing was to return them taking into account the museum’s policy.
A “great loss” for the museum
The founder of the Getty Oil Company and patriarch of the Getty family was considered the richest man in the world in the 1960s, leaving a fortune of more than 6,000 million dollars after his death, equivalent to about 22,000 million now. Months before his death he bought the sculptures of Orpheus.
The museum has indicated that the return of these works “will be a great loss.” “It is a very important work, I would dare say one of the most important in our collection,” said Timothy Potts, the museum’s director. “This return is a black hole for the museum, although it is true that the tests indicated that the most ideal thing was to send them back to Italy,” he explained.
more returns
‘Orpheus and the Sirens’ is not the only piece that the museum will have to return. The investigations that Getty as well as other institutions have carried out confirm that the museum must also return a colossal marble head on a divinity from the second century after Christ, the oil painting ‘The oracle’ of 1881 by Camino Miola, a censer for bronze ceremonies from the 4th century BC and a stone mold for casting pendants from the 2nd century AD. These objects, acquired by both J. Paul Getty and the museum, have not been on public display in recent years and are currently working for their return.
The director explained in a statement that the museum values the “solid and fruitful relationship” with the Italian Ministry of Culture as well as with fellow archaeologists and conservators: “We all share the mission of working for the preservation of ancient cultural heritage” .
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