The Carabinieri Art Squad on BBC Radio 4

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From MSN: 'The Carabinieri Art Squad' review:

Radio 4 painted a dramatic picture of Italian detectives who specialise in catching art thieves. They say that if you dig a hole in the ground in Rome, you are almost certain to find a historical artefact of some kind. In The Carabinieri Art Squad (R4), Alex Butterworth accompanied detectives to a field outside Rome where a criminal gang had dug a 30ft hole in a field in the dead of night and looted the treasures from a vast Etruscan tomb. The "tombaroli" (tomb raiders) are part of a larger organised crime network linked to drugs, arms and even human trafficking. They sell their stolen treasures to art dealers who, in turn, sell them to museums. "As they journey up the crime pyramid, they attain further layers of respectability", explained Butterworth, taking us into a fascinating world where detectives, through the painstaking nature of their work, have become art experts. Last year, there was a 75% fall in thefts of art treasures from galleries, churches and tombs. We heard the story of a Madonna and Child altarpiece recovered in three separate parts from three different private collections, and of the thief who stole a chalice from one church in order to donate it to another, insisting his name was carved on it. His priest turned him in to the police. Listening to some of the detectives of the art squad, you sensed that they, too, were following a calling that was almost religious.

Listening to the (so-called "internationalist") dealers and collectors in the US opposed to the imposition of restrictions on the import of illegally exported items from countries like Italy, you will sense that the ancient artefacts and artworks are being treated more like potatoes than items revered for the insight they bring to our views of the past. By demanding the "right" to allow themselves to be involved in the illegal internationalist movement of artefacts these dealers and collectors are demanding the "right" to retain the contacts between the no-questions-asked market in portable antiquities and the organised crime networks linked to drugs, arms and human trafficking.

[Before getting her kids involved in the purchasing of ancient coins from the "nice gentlemen" who stand behind the youth-ensnaring Ancient Coins for Education programme, perhaps teachers like Ms Carter mentioned in an earlier post really should open their eyes to who stands behind the antiquities trade and the engineering of the international movement of antiquities which supplies the project with the raw material.] Just what kind of business are "collectors' rights" lobby groups trying to protect from closer scrutiny and regulation?

Vignette: From Monete romane autentiche a Porta Portese, nei guai "lo sceriffo".

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