Posted on: December 17, 2024 by Andrea Martín Alacid
The ‘Bernini Judgment’, issued by Barcelona’s First Instance Court No. 42 on 20 May 2024, sets a significant precedent in the protection of Spain’s national heritage. It enables the recovery of a key piece from the Royal Collections through an action for recovery of ownership, supported by comprehensive technical reports. In this case, Patrimonio Nacional, […]
Posted on: June 24, 2024 by Chiara Gallo
Over a year and a half ago, the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC) won the dispute brought in front of the Venice Civil Court concerning the Vitruvian Man. In that instance, the Italian court held that the Vitruvian Man, an artwork created by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490, belonged to Italian Cultural Heritage and, as […]
Posted on: June 17, 2024 by Tom Lewis
On 15 May 2024 the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) rejected an appeal against the 2022 decision of Hobart City Council to remove a controversial statue (erected in 1889) of the colony’s one-time premier, William Crowther (d. 1885). Crowther, a medical doctor, is and, in his own day, was a controversial figure. He was […]
Posted on: June 3, 2024 by Shweta Sai Sakthivel
Objects in themselves carry no value. But when an object is viewed in the context of its history, culture and belief, it is not an object anymore. The ‘Idol’ of Lord Nataraja (Dancing God Shiva) that returned to Kallidaikurichi village in India is not an object but a once-lost god. For those who smuggled the […]
Posted on: May 28, 2024 by Andrea Martín Alacid
It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that Spain’s interest in its heritage began to awaken. A heritage that was ageing, reviled and unknown by many. Spain’s drive to protect its heritage at the beginning of the twentieth century resulted in extensive legislation on the safeguarding of historical heritage. Nevertheless, the regulatory […]
Posted on: May 21, 2024 by Alexander Herman
The ‘Getty Bronze’ is in the news again. As though cursed, the ancient sculpture of the victorious youth has been contentious for years now, beginning not long after it was discovered by Italian fishermen in 1964. The statue was purchased by the Getty Trust in 1977 and put on display in Malibu the following year, […]
Posted on: April 2, 2024 by Siyi Wu
In the captivating world of art restitution and repatriation, each artefact whispers tales of ancient times and distant lands, waiting to be heard. Among these, the story of the recently repatriated Feng Xingshu Gui (丰刑叔簋) stands out – a narrative not just of rediscovery but of bridging cultures and epochs. My tenure at the Art […]
Posted on: March 11, 2024 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds
Stonehenge has been a permanent feature and place-marker on the landscape in Wiltshire for thousands of years. It has also a been a semi-permanent feature of headlines and as a topic on this blog. However this may soon no longer be the case, as Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) have had their application for […]
Posted on: August 31, 2023 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, on the advice of Historic England, announced recently that the hulk of the nineteenth-century iron steamship, Lady Alice Kenlis, located at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk has been granted protection as a Scheduled Monument. The hulk (the term is used to describe an old ship which has been permanently […]
Posted on: August 14, 2023 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds
The month of July saw two opposing planning decisions being made with one thing in common: their subject and focus being designated heritage assets; Stonehenge and the proposed tunnel within its vicinity and the Marks and Spencer building on Oxford Street, London. Both of them highlight the complexity of dealing with heritage assets within the […]