Material / Image Research Lab (MIRL)

There was a good article in the New York Times last week on the many facets of repatriation of looted artifacts.  Some cases involve pressure from countries of origin and lengthy legal battles, such as that surrounding the Euphronius Krater,  left, which spent many years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before travelling back to Rome in 2006.  In other cases, some things make it “home” when collectors simply decide to do the right thing, for example when Dominique de Menil knowingly purchased looted Byzantine frescoes, which the Menil Collection then restored and returned to Cyprus.