A new exhibition hosted in the Colosseum, traces how Italy learned the importance of protecting its heritage & the methods used to stop its destruction, beginning in the Renaissance & continuing to the present day.

From:
ANSA (Italy)

2008-10-03 15:36
Colosseum spotlights saved art
Exhibit shows how Italy learned to save its heritage

(ANSA) – Rome, October 3 – A new show at the Colosseum highlights Italy’s strong tradition in preserving its art heritage.

The exhibition, entitled Ruins and Rebirth of Art In Italy, shows how efforts to foil tomb raiders stretch from the Renaissance to the present day, culminating in the formation of Italy’s world-famous art cops, a Carabinieri unit which has worked in Iraq and other countries targeted by traffickers.
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Maurizio Fiorilli has in recent years been no stranger to restitution cases in his work for the Italian Government. Here he talks about some of the issues he is dealing with, as well as the way that the problems of looting are exacerbated by the policies of many of the museums that receive the stolen artefacts.

From:
Sunday Telegraph

Maurizio Fiorilli: scourge of the tomb raiders
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 10/08/2008

Bad news for the art thieves who for years have been selling Italy’s ancient treasures to foreign museums: ‘Il Bulldog’ is on your case. Alastair Smart meets the resolute attorney demanding their return

Pasquale Camera didn’t do light lunches. After a third plate of veal Napolitano, washed down by his nth glass of Barolo, the 25-stone ex-police captain galumphed his way out of a Naples restaurant, climbed into his Renault 21, and set off north for Rome. The August heat was intense, and just a few miles up the motorway, he fell asleep at the wheel, smashed into the guardrail and overturned his car. He died instantly.
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