Switzerland, once a favoured destination for stolen cultural artefacts, is now working closely with the Italian authorities to secure the return of such treasures. The latest handover: 27 objects of inestimable historic and artistic value. The return took place on October 13 at the Italian embassy in Bern. The Swiss authorities handed over 26 Etruscan artefacts from a private collection and a 2,000-year-old marble bust which was found at the Geneva free port. The illicit trafficking of cultural artefacts is the world’s third-largest illegal market, after drugs and weapons. Countries such as Italy, which has a rich cultural heritage, have been striving for decades to stem this phenomenon. The Swiss-held artefacts from the Etruscan period were collected in Tuscany by a Swiss citizen who has since passed away. “They were amassed between 1965 and 1968 in the Tuscan archipelago and were returned on a voluntary basis,” explains Carine Simoes, head of the Specialised Body for the...
