A European court has upheld Italy's right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J Paul Getty Museum in California, ruling that Italy was right to try to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage and rejecting the museum's appeal.
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The European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, on Thursday determined that Italy's years-long efforts to recover the Victorious Youth statue from the Getty were not disproportionate.
The Getty had appealed a 2018 Italian high court ruling that had confirmed a confiscation order, claiming its rights to the statue had been violated by Italy's campaign to get it back.
Victorious Youth, a life-sized bronze dating from 300 BC to 100 BC, is one of the highlights of the Getty collection.
An Italian court in Pesaro had ordered it seized and returned in 2010, at the height of Italy's campaign to recover antiquities looted from its territory and sold to museums and private collectors around the globe.
The Getty has long defended its right to the statue, saying Italy had no claim to it.
Among other things, the Getty had argued the statue was of Greek origin, was found in international waters and had never been part of Italy's cultural heritage.
Getty bought the bronze in 1977 for $US4 million and it has since been on display.
The ruling by the Strasbourg, France-based ECHR was a chamber judgment.
Both sides have three months to ask the case be heard by the court's Grand Chamber for a final ruling.
There was no immediate comment from the Getty, while Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said the ruling "unequivocally recognised the rights of the Italian state".
The Getty had appealed to the ECHR by arguing, among other things, that Italy's 2010 confiscation order constituted a violation of its right to enjoy its possessions and that it would be deprived of that right if US authorities carried out the seizure.
The ECHR however, ruled in favour of Italy and strongly reaffirmed Italy's right to pursue the protection of its cultural heritage, especially from unlawful exportation.
The statue, nicknamed the Getty Bronze, is a signature piece for the museum.
Standing about 1.5 metres tall, the statue of the young athlete raising his right hand to an olive wreath crown around his head is one of the few life-sized Greek bronzes to have survived.
Though the artist is unknown, some scholars believe it was made by Lysippos, Alexander the Great's personal sculptor.
The bronze is believed to have sunk with the ship that was carrying it to Italy after the Romans conquered Greece.
After being found in the nets of Italian fishermen trawling in international waters in 1964, it allegedly was buried in an Italian cabbage patch and hidden in a priest's bathtub before being taken out of Italy.
Italy has won back thousands of artefacts from museums, collections and private owners, and recently opened a museum to house them until they can be returned to the regions from where they were looted.
Australian Associated Press
