An Italian judge ruled Friday that
a fourth-century BC Greek statue known as Lysippus after its
creator or the Victorious Athlete must be seized wherever in the
world it is, rejecting a Malibu Getty Museum appeal.
The statue, fished out of the sea off Pesaro in 1964, was
bought by the Californian museum for around four million dollars
in 1977 from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer.
Friday's was the third verdict of the same kind by the Pesaro
judiciary.
In November 2007 the John Paul Getty Museum was cleared of
wrongdoing in the case of the ancient Greek bronze statue which
is one of the jewels of its collection.
Italy has long claimed it was smuggled out of the country
and has demanded that the Getty hand it back.
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