$80 million worth of stolen Italian artifacts, recovered from New York and New Jersey by prosecutor Col. Matthew Bogdanos, were displayed in Rome, showcasing the ongoing efforts against art trafficking led by Italy’s Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection unit.
About 600 pieces of art were on display Tuesday morning in the Central Institute for Restoration's offices, which are housed in a former women's prison in central Rome. The sight looked more like a museum exhibition of Italian art than a crime scene.
Works pillaged from the Italian regions of Lazio, Campania, Puglia, Calabria, and Sicily were sequestered in New York and New Jersey last year. Emanuele Antonio Minerva/Ministero della Cultura
The items span the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD and amount to just one year's worth of stolen and trafficked art that was collected by Manhattan prosecutor Col. Matthew Bogdanos' squad and returned to Italy. They range from life-sized bronze statues to small Roman coin...