Greece demands return of Getty antiques

ATHENS - The J.Paul Getty Museum, already embroiled in a dispute with Italy over looted art, now faces demands by Greece over the return of allegedly stolen antiquities.

Greece has backed its claims by presenting archaeological evidence proving the Greek origin of three items ranking among the masterpieces of the Getty's antiquities collection.

A gold funerary wreath, an inscribed tombstone and a marble torso, were all purchased in 1993.

The fourth item, an archaic votive relief, was bought in 1955 by the Los Angeles museum's founder, oil tycoon J.Paul Getty himself.

According to the Greek press, the gold wreath was purchased by Marion True, the museum's former chief curator of antiquities who resigned earlier this month after 20 years with the Getty, the world's largest and wealthiest musem.

Museum officials said her resignation came after she violated a conflict-of-interest policy.

She reportedly secured a US$400,000 loan with the help of one of the Getty's main art suppliers for a holiday house in the Greek island of Paros.

Ms True currently faces criminal charges in Italy over conspiring with dealers to traffic in stolen goods. Her trial is scheduled to resume next month in Rome and has been hailed as a landmark case in Italy.

Greek officials initially lodged their claim nine years ago and renewed it in May.

A spokesman for the Greek Consulate in Los Angeles said that a May 20 letter to the Getty Museum cited a "lack of evidence" regarding the time and way the wreath and other objects were exported. The letter pointed out that there is a strong indication that the artefacts entered the art market illegally.

According to the Los Angeles Times, officials in the US said they had also informed the Getty Museum before it purchased the wreath and marble torso that they had almost certainly been looted from Greece.

The same newspaper says museum records show that Ms True first saw the wreath in a Zurich bank vault but walked away after realising that the men she was dealing with were impostors.

She went ahead with the deal several months later, the museum records show.

Ms True's lawyer referred questions to the Getty Museum but it declined to comment on the case.

In the past, the museum has denied claims of knowingly purchasing stolen artefacts. But it has returned three ancient objects that the Italian government claimed had been stolen.

Since Greece's original demand close to a decade ago, additional information has been gathered about the origins of the Greek objects.

Documents show that the votive relief bought by J. Paul Getty was from the archaeological site of the Greek island of Thassos.

European Union legislation on prosecuting antiquities smugglers has tightened in the last decade and new laws and restrictions on the sale, export and import of ancient goods have been imposed.

Artefacts that lack a documented ownership history are presumed to have been illegally excavated.

- INDEPENDENT