[MSN] Louvre backs down on ancient statue here. Greece threatens boycott over Cleveland museum.

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Louvre backs down on ancient statue here 
Greece threatens boycott over Cleveland museum 
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Steven Litt
Plain Dealer Art Critic 
Under the threat of a boycott from Greece, the Louvre Museum in Paris has
withdrawn a request to the Cleveland Museum of Art to borrow and exhibit an
ancient bronze statue of Apollo, which Greece believes may have been
illegally acquired. 

Timothy Rub, director of the Cleveland museum, said Tuesday that he still
has not been contacted directly by Greece about its claims regarding the
Apollo, which he called "unsubstantiated." 

He said he would try to contact Greek authorities to discuss the Apollo. 

The rising dispute over the sculpture, which stands 5 feet tall and is
attributed to the ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles, is the latest chapter
in the effort by Italy, Greece and other "source countries" rich in ancient
treasure to shut down the black market in looted antiquities. 

Italy and Greece have already launched negotiations with the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and other museums
to have antiquities returned. 

Rub agreed recently to meet in Rome with Italian cultural authorities to
discuss claims that unspecified antiquities in the Cleveland collection were
looted from Italian soil. 

He said that "if the museum acquires an object and it is proven after the
fact that it was wrongly acquired, the museum would feel duty-bound to
return it to its rightful owner." 

In the case of the Cleveland Apollo, Agence France-Presse reported in
December that Greek officials had asked the Louvre not to exhibit the
sculpture, saying that it was probably sold illegally after having been
found in the 1990s by an Italian vessel in international waters between
Italy and Greece. 

The report, which did not name the source of the accusation, said Greece was
threatening to withhold loans of artworks to the Louvre exhibition. 

As of Tuesday, Maria Pantou, director of the Ministry of Culture in Athens,
had not responded to a fax sent to her office in January by The Plain Dealer
requesting information about the Greek allegations. Her name and contact
information were provided by officials at the Greek Embassy in Washington,
D.C. 

Petros Tsarouchis, an embassy spokesman, said Tuesday he couldn't comment on
the Apollo, because he had no specific information about the issue. 

The Cleveland museum, which bought the Apollo in 2004, has said its research
shows that corrosion and welds on the surface of the sculpture prove it has
been out of the ground at least a century or longer, and thus is not covered
by recent laws aimed at preventing the ongoing looting of ancient sites. 

The research also shows that the work was not recovered from the sea. 

Furthermore, the museum has signed statements from a German lawyer who said
the work belonged to his family during the middle years of the 20th century.


Archaeologists and cultural officials in America, England and Italy have
nevertheless deplored the purchase of the Apollo by Cleveland, saying that
the museum's research did not prove without a doubt that the work was free
of taint, and that such purchases only encourage tomb raiders to continue
looting. 

But Rub said in an e-mail that "the museum has no reason to assume that the
acquisition of the statue was not in conformance with all applicable laws." 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: 

slitt at plaind.com, 216-999-4136