Stolen Italian Art, Pasta & Gelato

 

We made a stop in Rome for 2 nights before heading to Singapore. While we would have preferred a longer stay, the most cost and time efficient flight meant a quick departure. We made the most of it and enjoyed more pasta and gelato, and a new museum. I had read about the very recent opening of a new part of the Museo Nazionale Romano – the Museo dell’Arte Salvata (“Museum for Rescued Art”). This seemed like the perfect thing to do with our limited time in Rome.

Placed in the Aula Ottagona, part of the Baths of Diocletian complex built in the 4^th century, it is an exhibition of antiquities recovered by a special Carabinieri (national police) unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. All the items displayed were reclaimed in cooperation with US authorities, including the NY District Attorney’s Office. The exhibit will rotate through about 100 pieces at a time. After they’ve been shown in Rome, the intent is to return them for display in local museums in their areas of origin. What we saw were high-quality pieces – the best gets stolen and sold to the highest bidder. These pieces were better than almost anything we saw in Agrigento, Sicily, which houses a large museum for Valley of the Temples artifacts.

Among the best pieces recovered are statues of two sirens with a seated Orpheus. The detail on these statues is amazing (notice the bird feet as mythologically, the sirens were part avian and the mermaid-like tails):

This exhibit was a fascinating introduction into the world of stolen art, a topic that has garnered a lot of interest recently in the press. Perhaps you’ve heard about the British Museum’s near total refusal to consider returning the Elgin Marbles or Benin Bronzes. John Oliver did a great piece about the issue just recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJPLiT1kCSM  While the British are standing by their colonial legacy, it is nice to see the US authorities cooperating extensively. The Getty Museum has returned numerous pieces and US law enforcement has helped identify and investigate illegal transactions by illicit dealers.

After laid back Puglia, Rome was a bit of shock to the system, but in a good way. We both agreed that Rome has a great energy. In case you were wondering, the tourists are back in force at the Trevi Fountain. We also witnessed a different type of crowd as well – a large protest by the biggest labor union that featured quite a few anti-fascist signs. Finally, we saw a nearly full moon over the city’s many churches.

Of course, we continued to eat really well in Rome, but unlike in Puglia we took advantage of the city's amazing gelato. We managed to eat it three times in under 48 hours, trying two different fantastic places. We definitely plan to return to Rome for a longer stay when we are back in Europe.

And now, so long to Europe; hello to Asia.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff