THE J. Paul Getty Museum in California has offered to return 21 antiquities of “disputed origin” to Italy in an attempt to settle a long-running tug of war with the authorities there over looted artworks.

The items include a marble statue depicting griffins, a statue of Apollo and a 2,600-year-old Greek cup by Euphronios, all on display at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles. The museum is also considering returning a marble statue of the goddess Aphrodite, one of its most prized antiquities.

The Getty’s move comes after a decision in February by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to give back 21 contested items, in return for which Italy agreed to lend the museum “objects of equal beauty and importance”. The deal is seen as a pilot scheme for resolving other disputes with leading world museums.

In January Italian Culture Ministry officials presented evidence to the Getty that 52 objects in its collections had been looted. Marion True, the Getty’s former antiquities curator, is on trial in Rome for allegedly “conspiring to traffic in looted artefacts”.

Times Recommends

• Fish and chip shops ‘selling cobbler as cod’
• T in the Park festival at Kinross
• Body Watch