Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, CA

The J. Paul Getty Museum will return to Italy this fragment of a fresco from the 1st century B.C.

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“Our decision to return this fragment is based on a newly published image we saw about a year ago that included another fresco fragment that was being repatriated to Italy by a private collector. This image placed our landscape fresco alongside this newly repatriated fragment,” said Getty director Michael Brand. “Seeing these fragments together made it clear that the two were part of the same wall design and belonged together.”

“We greatly value the relationship we have with our colleagues in Italy and appreciate the opportunity for scholarly dialogue, which can enrich our understanding of our cultural heritage and help bring to light objects such as this one that should be repatriated,” he continued.

The work, which depicts a landscape scene, will be returned to Italy next month.

Since being accused by the Italian government of possessing numerous illegally exported ancient artifacts, resulting in among other things the 2005 arrest of former curator Marion True, the Getty has been cooperating with the Italian cultural ministry on restitutions of looted works and long-term exhibition loans.