J. Paul Getty Museum Returns Zeus Statuette to Italy

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu has voluntarily returned a marble statuette of Zeus enthroned, dating to the 1st-2nd century BCE, to Italy. The repatriation follows a long collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the American museum. The statuette was purchased by the Getty in 1992 from collectors Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, who had acquired it in 1987 from controversial British dealer Robin Symes. Its earlier provenance is obscure; the sculpture likely served as a cult object in a private chapel of a wealthy Greek or Roman home. The 74-centimeter statuette shows significant marine encrustation, suggesting prolonged submersion. Italian Minister Dario Franceschini announced that the statue will first be displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, then returned to the community from which it was illicitly taken once its exact origin is determined. This is not the first repatriation from the Getty to Italy; over a decade ago, then-Minister Francesco Rutelli facilitated the return of numerous artifacts, including the Athlete of Fano and the Venus of Morgantina. The Venus of Morgantina, discovered in the late 1970s at the archaeological site of Morgantina in Enna province, was sold in 1986 by a Lugano tobacconist for $400,000 to Robin Symes and later acquired by the Getty. Its recovery marked a turning point in Italy's fight against illicit trafficking of archaeological artifacts.