Amid allegations that the J. Paul Getty Museum-owned Aphrodite was illegally excavated from Italy by its former owner (who may have ties to the Mafia), the statue was "quietly escorted back to Sicily by Italian police last week, ending a decades-long dispute over an object whose craftsmanship, importance and controversial origins have been likened to the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum," according to the Los Angeles Times. The statue, purchased by the Getty for $18 million, and is just one of numerous disputed works of art that have been sent back to Italy by the museum. [LAT]
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