TOURISM: SHOW OF WORKS SAVED FROM BLACK MARKET
25 giugno, 13:25 (ANSA) - ROMA, 25 GIU - Works of art that have been recovered
from art thieves and the black market and which can now be
enjoyed once more by everyone. The title of the exhibition runs:
'From the Dungeon to the Museum. Tales of Plunder and Recovery.
Italy's Customs Police (Guardia di Finanza) Safeguarding Archaeology'. It was born under the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy and promoted by the Group for Safeguarding Archaeological Heritage, the PT Roma squad of Italy's Customs Police in collaboration for the Ministry for Culture. It will be held at the Vittoriano Complex in Piazza Venezia up to September 12. Italy's archaeological heritage is exposed to constant attrition by the black market which is often financed by wealthy collectors and some foreign museums. These are 'cultural predators' who dig around in grave sites, plunder unmapped archaeological digs, purloin grave decorations to satisfy the demand for possession of a work of art. In the two years 2008/2009 alone, actions by the Guardia di Finanza led to the recovery and restitution to public use of 11,258 artefacts of archaeological interest, the seizing of 136,873 counterfeit works and 294 criminal charges being brought. This represents an increase of around 50 % on the preceding two-year period.
One section of the exhibition, which bears the title 'Post Fata Resurgo (I arise from the grave). The life after death of archaeological artefacts,'' will look at the funeral rites of the Italian peoples. On show will be various kinds of sepulchre, from oval earthenware cisterns of the Villanova period to the marble sarcophagi of the imperial age, all recovered from the black market along with ceramics from a set of grave furniture that went missing during the 1950s.(ANSA).
Italy's Customs Police (Guardia di Finanza) Safeguarding Archaeology'. It was born under the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy and promoted by the Group for Safeguarding Archaeological Heritage, the PT Roma squad of Italy's Customs Police in collaboration for the Ministry for Culture. It will be held at the Vittoriano Complex in Piazza Venezia up to September 12. Italy's archaeological heritage is exposed to constant attrition by the black market which is often financed by wealthy collectors and some foreign museums. These are 'cultural predators' who dig around in grave sites, plunder unmapped archaeological digs, purloin grave decorations to satisfy the demand for possession of a work of art. In the two years 2008/2009 alone, actions by the Guardia di Finanza led to the recovery and restitution to public use of 11,258 artefacts of archaeological interest, the seizing of 136,873 counterfeit works and 294 criminal charges being brought. This represents an increase of around 50 % on the preceding two-year period.
One section of the exhibition, which bears the title 'Post Fata Resurgo (I arise from the grave). The life after death of archaeological artefacts,'' will look at the funeral rites of the Italian peoples. On show will be various kinds of sepulchre, from oval earthenware cisterns of the Villanova period to the marble sarcophagi of the imperial age, all recovered from the black market along with ceramics from a set of grave furniture that went missing during the 1950s.(ANSA).
