Artifacts Returned by Shelby White Go on View in Rome

ROME—Nine artifacts that New York philanthropist Shelby White recently returned to Italy will go on view at the Palazzo Poli in Rome next Saturday, as part of an exhibition of illegally excavated antiquities returned to Italy by American museums, dealers, and collectors, reports the New York Times. Among the objects are a bronze statuette of a nude youth and a calyx krater, both dating from the fifth century B.C.

In a statement issued by White and the Italian authorities, White said that she and her late husband, Leon Levy, had purchased their collection at public auction, from dealers the couple "believed to be reputable." After a long investigation by the Italian government, White concluded that "their export from Italy was questionable" and returned 10 items voluntarily; Italian authorities have never accused the couple of wrongdoing. The Palazzo Poli exhibition is an expanded version of "Nostoi: Recovered Masterpieces," a show of some 70 pieces recovered mostly from American museums, which opened in December at the Quirinale, the presidential palace, in Rome.