Venus from Rimini returned to Italy from New York gallery

Source: MiBAC

The Italian Ministry of Culture has reported that a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Venus ("Venus di San Giovanni in Perareto") that was stolen from the Museo Civico in Rimini in August 1962 has been recovered ["Recuperati negli Usa eccezionali reperti archeologici di provenienza furtiva e da scavo illecito in Italia", January 20, 2012 press release; see also Carabinieri press release]. The piece was apparently spotted in the stock of an antiquities gallery in the USA.

Although the press release did not name the gallery, a newspaper report by Fabio Isman, and a statement issued by ANSA identified the gallery as the Royal-Athena Galleries ("Così il proprietario della Royal-Athena (Londra e Manhattan: forse, la massima galleria), Jerome Eisenberg, l’ha consegnata a New York".) It is reported that the return was undisputed and no compensation was requested.

The gallery has returned antiquities to Italy on a previous occasion.