Germany gives up claim on Discobolus Lancellotti statue sold by Benito Mussolini

 

BERLIN – Germany and Italy have resolved a long-standing dispute over a famous statue from antiquity once sold by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to Nazi Germany.

The statue will remain at the National Roman Museum as property of the Italian state, Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano announced on Tuesday following a meeting with the German ambassador.

The German government confirmed that it would drop claims to its return.
The statue, which depicts a discus thrower and is known as the Discobolus Lancellotti, was sold by Mussolini in 1938 and was displayed for several years at Munich’s Glyptothek art museum.

But it was returned to Italy in 1948 as “looted art,” although the pedestal has remained in Munich and officials at the museum there have pressed for its return.

The current director of the Glyptothek, Florian Knauß, responded to a recent demand from the National Roman Museum for the pedestal by arguing that the sale was a legitimate purchase and not a gift from Mussolini to Hitler.

The work is a 1.55-metre-high marble copy of a bronze statue by the ancient Greek sculptor Myron, which was excavated in Rome in the 18th century and then belonged to the Lancellotti family.

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler took a great liking to the sculpture during a visit to fascist Italy, leading Mussolini to arrange the sale.

Sangiuliano, the culture minister in Italy’s far-right government, said on Tuesday after meeting with the German ambassador that the German government would not demand restitution for the statue.

It remains unclear, however, what will happen to the pedestal.