Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi wasted no time in pointing out the selling points of her home, the Villa Aurora, a 16th-century estate, smack in the centre of Rome, loaded with masterpiece paintings, historical archives and noble family lore.
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A Fragmentary Roman Marble Head of a Young God or Ruler, circa 1st Century A.D. from the Sotheby s website.
A U.S. judge has dismissed an art dealer’s lawsuit against the Italian Cultural Ministry over a disputed sculpture of Alexander the Great. New York’s Safani Gallery brought the suit against the Italian government after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, acting on a lead from the Italian culture ministry, seized the ancient artifact.
Safani Gallery’s owner, Alan Safani, had purchased the marble sculpture head of Alexander the Great in 2017. In February 2018, the Italian culture ministry reached out to U.S. officials to report that Safani Gallery was promoting its ownership of the head, which was “a stolen object, rightfully owned” by Italy. The historic piece, which dates back to the Augustan Age of 300 B.C., was seized by authorities and remains in limbo, in the custody of the D.A.
Gnawed bones of 9 Neanderthals found in Italian cave in ‘extraordinary’ discovery
The discovery of the ancient remains of nine Neanderthals, a pack of hyenas and several elephants in the Guattari Cave near the Italian resort town of San Felice Circeo has astounded archaeologists, who have long suspected that a considerable population lived in the area.
“It is an extraordinary discovery,” Dario Franceschini, Italy’s cultural minister, said in a statement. “The whole world will be talking about it.”
One of the Neanderthals dates back 90,000 to 100,000 years, according to a statement by the Italian Cultural Ministry, while the other eight date back 50,000 to 60,000 years. All were male, and one is suspected to have been younger than the others.