More on the Princeton Give-Backs: "Looting Matters" Digs for Provenance

Red figure loutrophoros (ceramic), attributed to the Darius Painter. South Italian, Apulian, ca. 335-325 B.C. Image courtesy of the Princeton University Art Museum

As I previously reported, the Princeton University Art Museum determined which works it should send back to Italy based on a "matrix" that took into consideration, among other things, "connection to individuals and ongoing investigations."

Which individuals or investigations, it would not say.

But in his blog "Looting Matters," David Gill, a member of the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology at Swansea University, Wales, manages to dot some "i's," cross some "t's" and raise some red flags.

His posts, which give some background about the objects, including their Princeton accession numbers are here. He notes the probably not merely coincidental fact that Princeton, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Getty Museum all agreed to return Apulian pottery attributed to the Darius painter. (Princeton's is pictured above.)

But the history of these objects is still murky and the public has not been given any specific information about why these works are being relinquished to Italy. Gill therefore asks:

Were the curatorial staff unaware of the previous histories? Will Princeton be releasing the names of the individuals, dealers or galleries who handled the pieces prior to acquisition?

Universities, of all places, ought not to suppress information that they have about their holdings...unless releasing this would compromise ongoing investigations. In that case, they should just say so.