Exterior of the Baths of Diocletian in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome, pictured in an undated photo. Italy has been so successful in recovering art and objects illegally exported from the country that it has launched the Museum of Rescued Art to showcase them. Its rotating exhibits are displayed in the Octagonal Hall inside the ancient baths. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Antmoose / Anthony M. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
ROME (AP) – Italy has been so successful in recovering ancient artworks and artifacts that were illegally exported from the country that it has created a museum for them. The Museum of Rescued Art now operates in a cavernous structure that is part of Rome’s ancient Baths of Diocletian. The Octagonal Hall exhibition space was designed to showcase Italy’s efforts, through patient diplomacy and court challenges, to get valuable antiquities returned to Italy, often after decades in foreign museums or private collections.
A 1,200-year-old Bodhisattva sculpture looted from the Devisthan Kundalpur Temple in Kurkihar, India, has been recovered in Italy following a decades-long search. Image courtesy of Art Recovery International
MILAN – An 8th- or 9th-century Bodhisattva sculpture that was looted from the Devisthan Kundalpur Temple in Kurkihar, India has been recovered in Italy following a decades-long search.
