Museum of Saved Art Reopens in Rome with Recovered Treasures

Rome: The Museum of Saved Art, featuring Italy’s newest recovered treasures from Europe and America over the past three years, has reopened at the Octagonal Hall of Diocletian’s Baths. The exhibition, entitled New Recoveries, showcases over 100 works spanning from the 9th century BC to the 3rd century AD, retrieved from the illicit market or repatriated from the USA and various European countries between 2022 and 2025 by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

According to Ansa News Agency, the collection includes remarkable artifacts such as the gentle faces of Etruscan female figures on alabaster cinerary urns, parade helmets, and bronze breastplates, all identified through the Carabinieri database. Notably, the Potnia-Theron, a goddess figure from the Hellenistic sanctuary of Ardea, was traced from the black market to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

The museum’s reopening is significant, following the 2021 exhibition of the Group of Orpheus and the Sirens, previously returned from the Getty in Malibu. Edith Gabrielli, interim director of the National Roman Museum, emphasizes that the recovery of artwork extends beyond its return, involving the restoration of its cultural significance.

Luigi La Rocca, Head of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, highlights the symbolic importance of the museum, which represents the return of cultural goods to the community. The exhibition will run with free admission until August 31st, after which it will become part of the National Roman Museum’s ticketed collection, with works eventually distributed to museums in their regions of origin.

Alfonsina Russo, Head of the Department for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, describes the museum as a beacon of legality, especially for the youth, where rescued works can once again share their stories. Noteworthy pieces include cinerary urns from Citt  Della Pieve and a bronze statue recovered in Belgium, believed to originate from a sacred site near Perugia.

General Francesco Gargaro underscores the ongoing efforts of the Carabinieri art recovery unit, which has retrieved three million works over fifty-five years, with 1.3 million still missing. The exhibition also features five marble theater masks from the 1st century AD, recently returned by an American collector, reflecting the success of international agreements that have facilitated the return of over 600 works from the United States between late 2023 and early 2024.