"Umbrian Umbrage": Chariot Contest Makes a Belated NY Times Debut

In an article published today (online last night), Elisabetta Povoledo of the NY Times compensates for Carol Vogel's recent failure to mention the ownership dispute with the Italian town of Monteleone over the Metropolitan Museum's Etruscan chariot. Vogel had published a detailed article last Thursday about restoration of the ancient bronze vehicle, without touching on the controversy.

When asked about the contretemps by Rebecca Mead for her current article in the New Yorker about the Met's new Greek and Roman galleries, Met curator Carlos Picón simply stonewalled:

I'm sorry, I am not even going to spend any time discussing this claim.

Now the Met may have to discuss it, instead of trying to deflect it with event planning. Povoledo reports that the mayor of Hamilton Township, NJ, is trying to get New Jersey's two U.S. senators on the case. And the mayor of Monteleone, Nando Durastanti, vows: "They'll get tired of hearing from us. We're mountain people. We don't give up." Apparently, the recent private tour of the new galleries accorded Monteleone's mayor by the Met has failed to mollify him.

But even Italian government officials seem to be resisting lawyer Tito Mazzetta's attempt to get them involved on Monteleone's behalf, in a case that stems from actions occurring more than a century ago. Povoledo reports:

"This case actually jeopardizes other negotiations," Mr. [Maurizio] Fiorilli [of the Italian Culture Ministry] said, because if every municipality brought a similar claim, it would make it more difficult to resolve cases with a clearer legal grounding.

All I know is, I wish I had dreamed up the Times' headline for one of my own posts:

Umbrian Umbrage: Send Back That Etruscan Chariot