Art Repatriation Brings Painting Fragments Back Together

When I first read that the Getty was returning yet another piece of art to Italy I couldn't help but groan, thinking of the huge bare space I saw on my last visit where the beautiful table support of griffins attacking a doe (that was returned to Greece) once stood. But in this case, the repatriation was voluntary and for a very good cause. Apparently, scholars saw the painting in a 2008 exhibition catalogue and recognized it as part of another painting fragment that had been returned to Italy voluntarily by a private collector in New York.

The J. Paul Getty Museum said Tuesday it will send a piece of an ancient Roman wall painting back to Italy.

A 35-by-31-inch piece of a 1st century landscape fresco is being returned because it appears to belong with another fragment returned earlier by another collector, according to a museum statement.

The fragment shows two painted panels bordered in red and gold. Inside the panels are several Roman buildings in a cityscape.

The museum noticed about a year ago that the piece, which was donated by a couple in 1996, appeared to belong to the same painting as another fragment that a private collector was returning to Italy. - Mercury News.com