Monday, December 6, 2010

Morgantina Treasure Goes on Display in Sicily

The Morgantina treasure has gone on display in a small provincial museum in Sicily. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/arts/design/06silver.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Morgantina&st=cse

It remains to be seen whether a promised spike in local tourism develops or how Italy's cash strapped cultural establishment will care for the treasure and other artifacts that have been or will be "recontextualized" at the site.

In any event, after years of finger pointing at American collectors and museums, it is refreshing to read Italians acknowledging that "looting was a tolerated sport" and that their own country's "negligence and silence" also had a part to play in the sale of these significant artifacts abroad.

For more about the treasure, see
http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2010/03/do-antiquities-have-rights.html

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