Major Danish museum returns looted antiquities to Italy

The Glyptotek is due to send artefacts from the tomb of an Etruscan prince back to Italy between December and the end of 2017. Photo: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, which holds the largest collection of antiquities in northern Europe, has agreed to restitute illegally excavated artefacts to the Italian government. In an historic agreement under negotiation since 2012, the Danish museum will return the eighth-century BC bronze chariot, shield, weapons, incense burners and tableware from the tomb of an Etruscan prince, among other archaeological objects, to Italy between December and the end of 2017. 

The pieces, believed to have come from the Sabine necropolis at Colle del Forno near Rome, could be sent to the Museo Civico Archeologico di Fara in Sabina, where additional material from the tomb—an unusually large structure indicating the special status of the deceased—is on display. A statement issued by the Glyptotek acknowledged that: "investigations have shown that the objects had been unearthed in illegal excavations in Italy and exported without licence".

Read the rest of this article...