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| Apulian grave group currently in Berlin © David Gill |
The apparent grave group consisting of Apulian pottery now in Berlin is the subject of a court order from the Tribunale di Roma ("Scoppia la "guerra" dell'arte Italia-Germania. Il tribunale di Roma confisca 21 vasi al museo di Berlino", ItTempo.it February 25, 2022). The group has been the subject of discussion by LM back in 2007. Three of the volute-kraters are attributed to the Darius painter. This painter was the subject of an exhibition in Geneva:
Aellen, Christian, Alexandre Cambitoglou, and Jacques Chamay. 1986. Le Peintre de Darius et son Milieu: Vases grecs d'Italie méridionale. Hellas et Roma, vol. 4. Geneva: Association Hellas et Roma.
The Berlin pots were acquired in 1983 (and accessioned in 1984), and they appear in the Medici Dossier.
The acquisition record links the group to Jacques Chamay of Geneva's Museum of Art and History.
«l’organo giudicante evidenziava una complicità con Medici degli indagati Jacques Chamay, all’epoca direttore del museo archeologico di Ginevra, e Fiorella Cottier Angeli, restauratrice, nella vendita al museo archeologico di Berlino dei 21 vasi».
It has been suggested that the grave group had once resided in a 19th century collection but there does not appear to be any authenticated documentation to support this claim.
Will Berlin finally return this group to Italy?
