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U.S. Repatriates Roman Sculptures to Italy

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Poet Sirens SculptureNEW YORK, NEW YORK—Three fourth-century B.C. terracotta sculptures held at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles have been repatriated to Italy after an investigation conducted by the Archaeology Section of the Italian Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Property, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, and the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., according to a statement released by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Bragg said that the Roman sculptures, known as the “Poet and Sirens,” were stolen several decades ago from a tomb near Taranto, Italy, by local looters, purchased by known antiquities traffickers, and then cleaned, reassembled, and eventually sold to the museum. To read about Roman sculptures that were repurposed for the Arch of Constantine, go to "A Monumental Imperial Biography."

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