Enlarge imageBy Silvia Aloisi
ROME (Reuters) - A former curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles appeared in a Rome court on Wednesday to face charges of acquiring stolen artefacts, in a trial spotlighting the shady side of the global art trade.
Prosecutors say the case, part of efforts by the Italian government to crack down on the trade of illegally excavated or stolen archaeological treasures, will put pressure on museums world-wide to verify the origin of the art works they purchase.
"Museums all over the world that have knowingly acquired art in a negligent or fraudulent way must stop doing this," prosecutor Paolo Giorgio Ferri told reporters.
It was the first time Marion True, who quit her job at the Getty last month, had attended the court since her trial opened with a single session in July.
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The 57-year old made no comment to the press and was visibly distressed as her lawyers shielded her away from cameras after Wednesday’s hearing, which dealt mainly with procedural issues.
True denies charges of criminal conspiracy to receive stolen goods and illegal receipt of archaeological artefacts brought by Italian prosecutors after a decade-long investigation.
U.S. MUSEUMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Art experts say the international trade in stolen antiquities is worth billions of dollars every year and that the buying practices of many museums, particularly in the United States, are highly questionable.
"The whole thing is not remotely clean," said Elizabeth Fentress, an archaeology research fellow at the British School of Rome, a centre of study on Italian culture and art.
Italy and France are two top targets for looters and traffickers, accounting for more than 12,000 stolen pieces of art every year.
The Getty museum, one of the world’s richest art institutions, returned three disputed works to Italy last week. But Italy’s culture minister said he would not be satisfied until another 39 treasures acquired by True, including a prized ancient Greek statue of Aphrodite, came home.
Authorities in Rome have said more disputed works are held by another eight U.S. museums, including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
The director of the Metropolitan will travel to Italy next week to discuss the allegations, Italian news agency ANSA said.
The investigation that brought True to court began in 1995 when Swiss police seized thousands of documents and photographs along with some 4,000 stolen artefacts. Investigators say the paper trail showed how a group of people traded in and "laundered" stolen antiquities.
In 2000 the evidence was sent to Italy and served as the basis for a trial of Italian art dealer Giacomo Medici, who is appealing a recent 10-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors accuse True of knowingly acquiring stolen artefacts from Medici and another art dealer, Paris-based Emanuel Robert Hecht, who is also a defendant in the Rome trial.
