Getty museum ordered to return ancient statue in tug-of-war with Italy

Italy’s highest court has ordered The Getty museum in Los Angeles to return an ancient Greek bronze statue that was found off the Adriatic coast of Italy by fishermen in 1964.

The ruling by the Court of Cassation in Rome is the latest round in an acrimonious decade-long dispute between the museum and Italy over the ownership of the bronze figure, known as Victorious Youth or the Getty Bronze. The Getty immediately rejected the judgment, saying it had no intention of giving up the fourth-century BC statue, believed to have been cast by the Greek sculptor Lysippus.

The court in Rome upheld the ruling of a lower court in Pesaro, in the Marche region of central Italy, where the statue was found more than 50 years ago.

It is thought that a Roman ship was taking the bronze from Greece to Italy when it sank, plunging it to the bottom of the sea.

‘‘We now hope that the US authorities will act as soon as possible to favour the restitution of the statue to Italy,’’ said Alberto Bonisoli, Italy’s culture minister.

‘‘This judicial process has finally ended and the right to recover an extremely important testimony of our heritage has been recognised. Let’s hope the statue can soon return to be admired in our museums.’’ Italy and The Getty have been at odds over the bronze masterpiece since the museum bought it in 1977 for US$3.95 million from a German art dealer. Italian authorities say the statue was illegally taken out of the country without an export license.

The Getty said it would continue to defend its ‘‘legal right’’ to the statue.

‘‘We now hope that the US authorities will act as soon as possible to favour the restitution of the statue to Italy.’’ Alberto Bonisoli, Italy’s culture minister

AP A museum visitor takes a photo of a sculpture titled Statue of a Victorious Youth at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The work has been at the heart of a legal struggle between the museum and the Italian Government.