Crossroads Roundup: the Case of "Victorious Youth," an Ancient Chinese Tomb, and William Blake

Our favorite stories on art, archaeology, folklore, and more from this past week.

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Emanuele Antonio Minerva © Italian Ministry of Culture

Tales of art theft (and repatriation) from around the world…

This past week, two major stories about art repatriation caught my eye. If you’ve been a patron for a while, then you know that antiquities trafficking in particular remains an issue across the globe, especially during periods of war or civil unrest. Repatriation efforts are often stymied by the complicated provenance of ancient works.

For example, it was announced this week that the United States returned 600 looted antiquities worth $65 million to Italy. Thanks to the valiant efforts of Colonel Matthew Bogdanos and the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the New York District Attorney’s Office, ancient artifacts that were looted and smuggled out of Italy have finally returned home.

As Colonel Bogdanos told ARTnews, “Looting is local. [Locals] know when the security guards come on, they know when they come off. They know when the security guards are guarding particular sites and not others. They know when there are scientific, proper, approved archaeological excavations, and then they know when those archaeological excavations close, for example, for the winter or for lack of funding.”

Among the repatriated artifacts are Etruscan vases, bronze statues, and mosaics dating from the 9th century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D. Other works include oil paintings from the 16th and 19th centuries. However, much to the Italian government’s dismay, the Greek bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth is not one of them.