The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
Greek and Italian experts are cooperating to study, document and conserve looted ancient pottery coming from illegal excavations in both countries, Greece’s Culture Ministry said Monday.
A ministry statement said the work started in September 2025 at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, headed by archaeologists and conservators from the museum, the Italian Culture Ministry and the University of Basilicata.
The ministry said the project is focusing on “significant groups” of pottery from mostly Attic workshops, and stemmed from an initial agreement between the two countries on joint management of looted antiquities recouped from a London art dealership under liquidation.
“The project is proceeding in a spirit of excellent cooperation and mutual trust, while its first results are already visible,” the ministry statement said. It said experts were seeking to conserve and restore fragmented works of pottery “with the intention of both countries ending up with equal numbers” of restored artifacts.
Greece secured the return of 351 antiquities, dating from Neolithic to mediaeval times, from Robin Symes Limited in May 2023. The same year, some 750 artifacts from the same company were returned to Italy. Last month, a marble relief sculpture of Artemis which had also been held by the company founded by the disgraced dealer Robin Symes, who died in 2023, was repatriated to Piraeus.