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More looted art from WWII has recently returned to the place from which it was taken. Ironically, this was art that was lost by the Germans at the end of the war and has apparently been kept in some German's attic for the last 60+ years. As the article states, I wonder how much looted stuff is gathering dust in people's attics too. I thought it was interesting also that the article briefly mentioned that the allies themselves engaged in abit of looting at the end of the war. They still have no idea where the fabled Amber Room is. Speculation says the Russians took it.
Not only during WWIIhttp://news.discovery.com/history/descartes-stolen-letter.html http://www.newser.com/article/d9g1vcoo0/haverford-college-officials-set-to-return-stolen-descartes-letter-to-rightful-owner-in-france.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/01/080114_looted_art_two.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_theft#Famous_cases_of_art_theft
That's interesting.On my part I can say that some of art looted from PL is still in foreign museums and is going to stay there forever.An example - but not from WWII - is "Polish scroll". It's a painting from 1605 which shows arrival of the king Sigismund III Vasa to Krakow.It was looted in 1655 by our northern neighbours and is still kept in Stockholm.http://www.zamek-krolewski.pl/?page=2171
That's interesting.On my part I can say that some of art looted from PL is still in foreign museums and is going to stay there forever.An example - but not from WWII - is "Polish scroll". It's a painting from 1605 which shows arrival of the king Sigismund III Vasa to Krakow.It was looted in 1655 by our northern neighbours and is still kept in Stockholm.http://www.zamek-krolewski.pl/?page=2171
Perhaps not always, but it seems that nations accept the loss of some works of art that happened hundreds of years ago. I think there's a realization that certain amounts of property does exchange hands through war or other dealings that would not exchange hands in modern legal systems. Also, modern international law is not based on a single, overarching document, and so it gets its authority from different places. In other words, it is not as "airtight" (if that is a good word to use) as domestic law which has a specific authority and enforcement mechanism. Therefore, trying to apply international law to something that went on hundreds of years ago can be speculative.An exception to this might be the Elgin Marbles, which were taken from Greece around 1801. Greece still wants these back from the British Museum on account that they were wrongfully removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin. I suspect that if they are returned, this will be done more as an attempt to be cooperative with public sentiment than with international law.
An exception to this might be the Elgin Marbles, which were taken from Greece around 1801. Greece still wants these back from the British Museum on account that they were wrongfully removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin. I suspect that if they are returned, this will be done more as an attempt to be cooperative with public sentiment than with international law.
Looted or collected ?Saved or removed?Keep or return ?TMHO A kind of never-ending debate for sure but whenever both sides are open-minded enough, a gentleman-agreement is always possible. Just like other sensitive matters, a kind of unwarranted nationalism (regarding the issue) might be the main and lone problem
That, plus Athens now has a nice museum to put them in right near the Parthenon. They even made space on the walls for them. It would be nice to see them all together (I think the Athens museum has a couple of them)
That, plus Athens now has a nice museum to put them in right near the Parthenon. They even made space on the walls for them. It would be nice to see them all together (I think the Athens museum has a couple of them)
The uncanny thing is that for the viewer, I bet they're appreciated more in the British Museum. I say this simply because there, they are out of their element, more ancient than most other things around there. It reminds me that I went to a traveling exhibit last year of items from the Vatican Museum (they stopped in a few U.S. cities). It was quite crowded when I went, and it was quite a unique experience to see all those "old" artifacts/works of art right in my backyard in a modern U.S. city. In a similar way, if the Elgin Marbles went back to Athens, they would in a sense lose some of their aura since they would be ancient sculptural reliefs in a nation of many ancient sculptural reliefs.
Looted or collected ?Saved or removed?Keep or return ?TMHO A kind of never-ending debate for sure but whenever both sides are open-minded enough, a gentleman-agreement is always possible. Just like other sensitive matters, a kind of unwarranted nationalism (regarding the issue) might be the main and lone problem
Well, in my country it was mainly looting not collecting 🙂For example, gold regalia of our kings were looted by Austrians in late XVIII century and were melt down. There's only one rusty sword from X century left.
That is because Poland has the saddest history of any country in Europe. Nobody else has had such a hard time gaining independence. Poland is unlucky in that they are bordered by Austria, Russia, Germany and Sweden is just across the Baltic, all countries that have had territorial designs on Polish land at one time or another.
