[MSN] {Spam?} As the Metropolitan Museum of Art prepares to relinquish a prized, 2, 500-year-old bowl, Italy's Culture Ministry has agreed to lend the institution three ancient Greek vessels for four years.

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Italy Lends Ancient Vessels to Met Museum as `Krater' Returns

By Jeremy Gerard

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- As the Metropolitan Museum of Art prepares to
relinquish a prized, 2,500-year-old bowl, Italy's Culture Ministry has
agreed to lend the institution three ancient Greek vessels for four years.

Met spokeswoman Elyse Topalian acknowledged last night that the loan stemmed
from an agreement the Met signed last year with Italy to resolve a
longstanding dispute over looted antiquities.

In an e-mail, the museum said the three pieces include a jug in the shape of
a young woman's head (6th-5th century B.C.), a cup signed by the potter
Euxitheos and the painter Oltos depicting the assembly of gods on Mount
Olympus (515-510 B.C.) and a vase from the 4th century B.C. showing Oedipus
solving the riddle of the Sphinx.

The three pieces are scheduled to go on view in the Met's Greek and Roman
galleries beginning Wednesday, Jan. 15. They join a Laconian drinking cup
already on loan.

The objects, which the Met described as ``outstanding,'' will fill a void
left by the return of the 2,500-year-old Euphronios krater, among other
objects.

The last day the krater will be on view at the Met is Sunday, Jan. 13.

Last February, Italy and the Met resolved a three-decade dispute over looted
antiquities. The museum agreed to return the krater -- a bowl painted by the
Greek artist Euphronios for mixing wine and water -- along with 20 other
antiquities.

In return, Italy agreed to lend objects of equal importance and beauty to
the museum. The Met's director, Philippe de Montebello, and Italian Culture
Minister Rocco Buttiglione signed the agreement at a ceremony in the
ministry's Rome headquarters. Earlier this week, de Montebello announced his
retirement from the Met at the end of this year.

Renewable Deal

Among the terms of the renewable, 40-year agreement, Italy waived civil,
administrative or criminal claims against the museum for its acquisition and
holding of the artworks.

The Met bought the Euphronios krater for $1 million in 1972. At the time,
the Italian government said the vase had been looted from an Etruscan tomb
outside Rome.

The other items to be returned include a 15-piece set of Hellenistic silver,
allegedly dug up at Morgantina in Sicily; an additional silver box; and four
clay vases. The silver box was added to the agreement since Feb. 2, when the
Met presented the Culture Ministry with a revised proposal to return
disputed works.

To contact the writer on this story: Jeremy Gerard in New York at
jgerard2 at bloomberg.net . 

http://www.bloomberg.com/