Quietly, the works smuggled by Giacomo Medici are returning to Italy:
The United States has returned to Italy a ceramic water vase from the sixth century BC that had been sold to an Ohio museum in 1982 by art dealers using falsified documents.
In a statement, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the rare Estruscan black-figure kalpis, valued at US$665,000, was handed back to Italian officials following a ceremony at the Toledo Museum of Art, AFP reports.
Investigators from both nations had established that the kalpis, depicting the Greek god Dionysus turning pirates into dolphins, had been smuggled out of Italy following its illegal excavation prior to 1981.
Rare Vase, Trafficked by Convicted Art Dealer Returned (AFP/Hong Kong Standard)
