Italy vs. Getty in Century City Over Alleged Stolen Art

A dispute between the Getty Museum and Italy's antiquities-rich Marche region came to Century City on Monday.

A senior Italian government official offered an olive branch compromise to the Getty Museum in a long-running dispute over priceless and allegedly looted antiquities on display in California.

"We have not come to declare war on the Getty,'' Marche Governor Gian Mario Spacca  said. "We are here to try to resolve the dispute in a way that will benefit this great museum, the people of Italy and, most important, art lovers around the world.''

Speaking at a news conference at the Intercontinental Hotel, Spacca unveiled a "cultural exchange'' proposal to share custody of the 2,300-year-old bronze "Victorious Youth'' (also known as the "Athlete of Fano''), a nearly five-foot antiquity sculpted by the Greek artist Lisippo.

The piece mysteriously arrived at the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1974 and was displayed to great fanfare. It was showcased as "The Getty Bronze.''

 The bronze is one of several star attractions at the Getty, including the iconic seven-foot marble and limestone "Aphrodite,'' which Italian police escorted home last week following a long-raging legal fight with the museum.

"The Italian people expect a museum as prestigious as the Getty should not be trafficking in illegal art,'' Spacca said. "Further, the Getty should show the world it can act like a world-class cultural institution and behave ethically.''

Spacca characterized his proposal as a significant effort to break the deadlock in the Getty stolen-art conflict and speed a resolution after decades of failed negotiations and legal wrangling.

In a separate action, the legal dispute is expected to be decided by an Italian high court later this week following multiple failed appeals by the museum, which continues to assert its legal ownership of the "Victorious Youth.''

A final ownership ruling favoring Italy could subject the priceless bronze to the same fate as "Aphrodite,'' which was one of the leading attractions at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, near Malibu, until its confiscation by Italy.

 Getty spokeswoman Julie Jaskol said Spacca toured the museum on the Malibu coast Friday, and proposed that the Getty set up a "future relationship.''

"It was a friendly meeting and we were pleased that the (governor) and his group were able to visit the Getty Villa,'' she said.

City News Service was used to compile this report.

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