The hoard includes an Attic kylix or drinking cup, a fourth century BC bronze Corinthian helmet, an ivory and wooden treasure chest from the famed Embriachi workshop, a ‘pauceta’ olla or earthenware jar, and many bronze and gold coins.
The handover took place in the presence of German Ambassador to Italy Viktor Elbling and TPC Commander General Vincenzo Molinese.
The Italian culture ministry said “the sequester and definitive delivery of the 14 cultural assets was the fruit of collaboration between the TPC and the BLKA (police) in Munich, as well as the liaison between the respective culture ministries”.
The return of the 14 artifacts comes hot on the heels of 750 looted archaeological treasures that were seized recently from controversial British antiquities trader Robin Symes and returned to Italy after a decades-long fight for their return, the Carabinieri art police said last week.
The artifacts, which according to the Italian cultural ministry are worth more than €12 million (A$19.5 million), will go on display in Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo museum as part of a collection of stolen art that has found its way home.
The return of the 750 objects marks another success in Italy’s ongoing efforts to recover its stolen treasures.
“The recovery of illicitly stolen cultural heritage is one of the priorities of my program; protecting it also means preventing our heritage from being plundered by unscrupulous traffickers,” Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano said at a press conference last week.
ANSA
