In 2016, the Italian culture ministry for the Torlonia collection in Rome. Last month, Swiss antiquities dealership Phoenix Ancient Art sued The Getty and its director, Timothy Potts, for $77m, alleging they had cut it out of an arrangement to "secure rights to" or display sculptures owned by Italy's Torlonia family. The Getty denied any such agreement existed and said it had “declined the [offered] acquisition and the objects were later transferred to the Italian government”. In a statement released on Tuesday, the museum said: “The auction house has been informed that the works are not in fact part of the collection at all but have instead been sold as individual items with no
Last month, Swiss antiquities dealership Phoenix Ancient Art sued The Getty and its director, Timothy Potts, for $77m, alleging they had cut it out of an arrangement to "secure rights to" or display sculptures owned by Italy's Torlonia family. The Getty denied any such agreement existed and said it had “declined the [offered] acquisition and the objects were later transferred to the Italian government”. In a statement released on Tuesday, the museum said: “The auction house has been informed that the works are not in fact part of the collection at all but have instead been sold as individual items with no