The Strasbourg Court ruled on the Greek statue, now in the hands of the Getty Foundation: the victorious Athlete of Lysippos must return to Italy
The legal dispute regarding theVictorious athlete of Lysippusalso known by the name of Athlete of Fano, may have come to an end: the Greek statue, disputed between Italy and the Getty Foundation, has been the subject of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which decreed its belonging to the Italian cultural heritage. And for this reason the court decided that he must return home.
The decision on Lysippos’ victorious Athlete
There judicial matter involving a unique piece of Greek art in Italy seems to have finally reached a turning point. We are talking about the victorious Athlete of Lysippos, found about 60 years ago off the coast of the Marche and then stolen through a long series of rather mysterious passages. The statue, which was finished in 1977 in the hands of the Getty Foundationcould now return to Italy.
The Foundation, created by the oil tycoon John Paul Getty to collect precious works of art from all over the world, had appealed a few years ago to the European court to contest a seizure request issued in 2010, according to which theVictorious athlete of Lysippus it should have been delivered to our country as soon as possible.
The appeal has now come to an end: the European Court of Human Rights established that the Greek statue, attributed to Lysippos, belongs “to the Italian cultural heritage”. The Getty Foundation, according to what we read in the sentence, behaved “in a negligent manner or not in good faith”, knowing that Italy was trying to bring the statue back home already at the time the purchase took place.
This is a question on which we worked closely. Since I have been minister, over 100 works have been returned from the USA and the same number from Great Britain; furthermore, I issued a circular with which we established that no more loans will be made to museums that have disputes with Italy” – explained the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The Athlete from Fano, a mysterious story
The victorious Athlete is one bronze sculpture dating back to between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC, probably created by the Greek artist Lysippus (or one of his students). It was found in 1964 off the coast of the Marche, near the city of Fano, by an Italian fishing vessel. However, her story has dark sides. Immediately after discoverythe Athlete would have been taken to the owner’s house and buried in a cabbage field.
At a later time, the statue would be sold to a entrepreneur from Gubbio and hidden in a rectory with the approval of the parish priest, who was then denounced by his housekeeper. Numerous steps have been documented so far on the “journey” of Lysippos’ Athlete: it was first sold to a Milanese antiques dealer, then sold to a merchant from Munich, then it was taken to Great Britain and finally purchased by the Getty Foundation in 1977, for a sum of almost 4 million dollars.
After arriving in the United States, the statue was taken to Malibu, where it still stands today, or among the many works of art collected in the Villa Getty Museum. All this despite the Italian government’s commitment to block the export of the victorious Athlete and, subsequently, to obtain his return. Initially, the legal battle concerned the jurisdiction of the workwhich has been attributed to Rome (as there is no certain evidence on the place of discovery).
So, a was undertaken long controversy to be able to bring the statue back to Italy, which found its first conclusion in the seizure request issued in 2010. The Getty Foundation contested the reconstructions of the investigators, claiming to have conducted scrupulous checks to establish the origin of the Athlete. But now the Court of Strasbourg he established that the work must return to our country.
