Plot twist: they have a fake and the real one is in the British Museum.
I’m waiting for king George to sport a nazi tie in support.
Is my reading comprehension bad today, or is that article written weirdly? If I’m reading it right, this statue was dug up in Rome, in 1781, and purchased by Hitler (with shenanigans) and moved to Munich, where it was placed on a base made in the 1600’s. After WW2, the Italians took the statue back, but not base. Now the Italians are asking the Germans for the base, while the Germans are asking for the statue, claiming that hitlers purchase was legitimate.
I’m assuming the base was actually made in the 1700’s, after this statue copy was unearthed, which makes the article less weird. Either way, though, I can’t imaging the base is anything intricate, and as an “aftermarket” addition, I don’t know why the Italians would care much about it.
Unless I’m also having an off day, the article is just really confusing. It makes sense to me that Italy would want the base back because it would be like selling a framed painting to Hitler and getting only the canvas back when it was returned. (Hitler, amirite?)
It’s probably a pretty nice base. Probably custom made for the statue shortly after it was unearthed, and probably the sort of thing that art historians would care about keeping together with the sculpture for art historian reasons.
Since the statue can be separated from the base, perhaps the base in question was made in the 17th century - before the statue was discovered - intended for something different.
Here’s an article that includes a picture of a little man with said base: https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/68934
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
MILAN (AP) — Italy’s culture minister is refusing a request by the German State Antiquities Collection in Munich to return an ancient Roman statue that embodied Hitler’s Aryan aesthetic, calling it a national treasure.
The statue, unearthed at a Roman villa in 1781, was returned to Italy in 1948 as part of works illegally obtained by the Nazis.
The dispute arose when the director of the National Roman Museum requested the statue’s 17th-century marble base be returned from the Antikensammlungen state antiquities collection.
The German museum instead asked for the return of the Discobolus Palombara, saying it had been illegally transported to Italy in 1948, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Friday.
“I made a joke — they’ll have to step over my dead body,’’ the minister told Italian Rai state TV on Saturday evening.
“This work was obtained fraudulently by the Nazis, and it’s part of our national heritage,’’ Sangiuliano told Rai.
The original article contains 240 words, the summary contains 153 words. Saved 36%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Someone at the Munich museum is gonna get fired …
