The grandson of a former prime minister of Italy returned an ancient wine vessel to Greece that had been given as a gift to his grandfather by the Greek government in 1953.
The antiquity was presented to Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni in a special ceremony held at the Greek embassy in Rome, by the grandson of former Italian prime minister Alcide De Gasperi.
The story of the ancient vessel returned to Greece
The excellently preserved 5th-century B.C. krater – a type of two-handed vessel used for mixing wine – had been given as a gift to the Italian prime minister by the Greek prime minister Alexandros Papagos during a visit to Greece as a sign of friendship, following Italy’s decision to return the Dodecanese islands to Greece.
Mendoni thanked Paolo Catti De Gasperi, a descendant of the Italian prime minister, and presented him with a precise replica of the goddess Artemis as depicted on the Parthenon frieze in the Acropolis Museum.
“I must point out that it is not an ordinary repatriation. We generally repatriate cultural goods that in one way or another have been illegally exported from our country. There are always, of course, sensitized people in the world who now voluntarily return cultural goods, and antiquities, to Greece and Italy,” Mendoni said.
“Mr De Gasperi believes that even though it is a family heirloom all these treasures should return to the land where they were born, which created them. Consequently, it is an action that is more than symbolic.
“It shows the culture and education of a person who considers, truly, that culture not only unites but also recognizes the huge significance that every cultural good should be found in the context to which it belongs,” she added.
In 2022, Italy returned a fragment of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, in a move that added new pressure on the British Museum to send its pieces of the works back as well.
The “Fagan fragment” returned to Greece, on loan from the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, with a view of permanent repatriation.
The fragment, which belongs to the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, shows the seated gods of Olympus watching the annual Panathenaic Procession in honor of the city’s patron, the goddess Athena. The procession included the carrying of a golden veil to Athena’s statue in the Parthenon.
G7 ministerial meeting on culture held in Italy
The culture minister will also be participating in a G7 ministerial meeting on culture, being held in Naples on September 19-21, in which Greece, Brazil and India have been invited to participate.
The minister also expressed her great satisfaction at the invitation to Greece to participate in the G7 meeting, saying it was a great honour extended by the Italian presidency that honoured Greece for its huge contribution to the western world.
“Culture unites. Despite being a deeply political concept…it does not cease to act as a bridge for the peaceful coexistence of peoples. Through dialogue on matters of culture, peoples succeed in living better. With reconciliation, with faith in what the western, Grecoroman and Greek culture stand for: peace, democracy and solidarity,” she added.