A stunning ancient Greek bronze statue may end up in Italy after a European court upheld Italy’s right to seize it from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California.
The European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, determined that Italy’s years-long efforts to recover the “Victorious Youth” statue from the Getty were not disproportionate.
“Victorious Youth,” a life-sized bronze dating from 300 BC to 100 BC, is one of the highlights of the Getty collection. Nicknamed the “Getty Bronze” it stands about 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall.
A naked youth stands with his weight on his right leg, crowning himself with a wreath, probably olive. The olive wreath was the prize for a victor in the Olympic Games and identifies this youth as a victorious athlete.
Found in the sea in international waters, this statue is one of the few life-size Greek bronzes to have survived; as such, it provides much information on the technology of ancient bronze casting.
The origin of the statue is unknown, but either Olympia or the youth’s hometown is possible. Though the artist is unknown, some scholars believe it was made by Lysippos, Alexander the Great’s personal sculptor.
Romans probably carried the statue off from its original location during the first century BC or AD, when Roman collecting of Greek art was at its height. The ship carrying it may have foundered, preserving the statue for centuries in the sea.
The Greek bronze may end up from Getty to Italy
The Getty had appealed a 2018 Italian high court ruling that had confirmed a confiscation order, claiming that its rights to the statue had been violated by Italy’s campaign to get it back.
An Italian court in Pesaro had ordered it seized and returned in 2010, at the height of Italy’s campaign to recover antiquities looted from its territory and sold to museums and private collectors around the globe.
The Getty has long defended its right to the statue, saying Italy had no claim to it.
Among other things, the Getty had argued that the statue is of Greek origin, was found in international waters and has never been part of Italy’s cultural heritage. It has cited a 1968 Court of Cassation ruling that found no evidence that the statue belonged to Italy.
The bronze, which was pulled from the sea in 1964 by Italian fishermen, was purchased by the Getty in 1977 for $4 million and has since been on display at the Getty.
The Italian government says it was brought into Italy and then exported illegally, with the illegal exportation the basis of its confiscation order.
Thursday’s ruling by the Strasbourg, France-based ECHR was a chamber judgment. Both sides now have three months to ask that the case be heard by the court’s Grand Chamber for a final ruling.