CNN quoted the Italian Ministry of Culture as saying that the artifacts worth nearly $13 million will be displayed at the Castel Sant'Angelo museum in Rome as part of a collection of stolen art that has found its way home.
Ancient painting recovered by Italy
The artifacts "belong to a wide range of products from ancient Italy and the islands", including "a wide variety of funerary, cultural, residential and public objects… with a particular concentration in Etruria and Magna Graecia", according to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Among the Roman artifacts being recovered are a bronze tripod of an Etruscan noble family, two horse-riding headdresses, two funerary paintings, a marble male bust, various parts of statues and bronzes, a wall painting depicting a small temple. There are also precious stones inlaid with gold, silver, bronze, as well as bones and amber...
Some of the antiquities brought back to Italy from London are on display at the Castel Sant'Angelo museum in Rome.
Other works include weapons, coffins, urns, ritual objects, bronze and marble furniture, ornaments...
According to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture, the artifacts originated from "secret excavations on Italian territory" and were illegally owned by Symes Ltd. - a company owned by Robin Symes, an antiques dealer.
"The company has always resisted repeated recall attempts by Italian judicial authorities," Italian Attorney General Lorenzo d'Ascia said at a press conference.
Robin Symes sold valuable artifacts to some of the world's most prestigious museums. But in 2016, a warehouse in Switzerland he rented was raided by thieves.
Now 80, he has not spoken to the press for many years.
During the trial of Marion True, a former curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum, who was charged with illegal antiquities trafficking in Italy in 2005, Symes denied trafficking in illegal art, saying he had always been assured by his collaborators of the legal provenance of every piece of art he bought on the market.
750 repatriated antiquities seized from British art dealer Robin Symes
Robin Symes was often investigated but never charged.
Brigadier General Vincenzo Molinese, commander of the Carabinieri art police, said another 71 artifacts, currently in the US, would be recovered in the coming days.
The recovery of the 750 objects marks another success in Italy's efforts to recover stolen treasures. "Recovering illegally stolen cultural heritage is one of the priorities of my program," Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said at a press conference. "Protecting antiquities also means preventing our heritage from being plundered by unscrupulous traders."
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