The European Court of Human Rights
said Thursday that Italy has every right to demand the return of
a Greek bronze statue, the Victorious Athlete, attributed to
Lysippus that is currently in the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu,
California.
The court unanimously ruled to reject an appeal filed by the J.
Paul Getty Trust against the confiscation order issued by the
Italian authorities, saying there had been no violation of the
right to protection of property.
It said the Italian authorities acted with the purpose of
recovering an unlawfully exported piece of cultural heritage.
It said the confiscation order had been proportionate to the aim
of ensuring the return of an object that was part of Italy's
cultural heritage "owing to the Getty Trust's negligence or bad
faith in purchasing the statue despite being aware of the claims
of the Italian State and their efforts to recover it".
The statue, which dates from the classical Greek period and is
also known as the 'Athlete of Fano' and the 'Lysippus of Fano',
was discovered by fishermen in the Adriatic Sea, off the coast
of the Marche town of Pedaso, in 1964.
It was sold in 1965 to an unknown party.
In July 1977 the Getty Trust bought the statue in Munich through
a contract concluded in the United Kingdom for $3.95 million.
It entered the United States via Boston in August 1977 and
arrived at the Getty Villa in Malibu in March 1978.
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