For decades, Italy has worked to recover ancient Roman-era statues, Etruscan vases and other treasures that were looted from its soil and sold to museums around the world. Now, the country is coming to terms with the fact that it, too, has stolen items in its museum collections: the relics of a brutal colonial empire…
For over a year, a team of museum directors, university researchers and scholars in Italy has been conducting a ‘census’ of the collections in the 498 Italian state museums to get a handle on what exactly they contain
Italy begins to reckon with Fascist-era colonial collections kansas.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kansas.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Italy is starting to come to terms with its Fascist-era colonial past and the loot it has in its museums. It's something of a turnabout given that Italy has long been considered a victim of looting. It has spent decades trying to recover ancient Etruscan vases and Roman statutes that ended up in museums around the globe. But for over a year, a team of museum directors, university researchers and scholars have been conducting a “census” of the collections in the 498 Italian state museums to get a handle on whether they contain any stolen loot from Italy's colonial empire.