The government is working to bring
back the Stabia Doryphoros from the United States to Italy,
Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said on Monday
The ancient statue, a Roman copy of the Doryphoros (lance
bearer) classical Greek sculpture, was illegally excavated in
the 1970s at Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, and taken out
of the country.
It is currently at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which
bought it in 1986.
Italian prosecutors have issued an international warrant for the
artwork to be impounded and returned, but this has not happened,
despite repeated calls from the Italian culture ministry.
"We are working on it," Sangiuliano said when asked about the
case of the statue during a visit to Castellammare di Stabia.
"We have also suspended the usual exchange of artworks with the
Minneapolis museum.
"We no longer lend works to museums in disputes with Italy.
"Thanks to the efforts of the Carabinieri police and the Italian
judiciary, in just over a year we have brought back 400
artifacts, above all from the USA and Great Britain".
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