Latest IAL News

Starting the new academic year: upcoming Study Forum and Diploma course

Posted on: September 10, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

We are all excited at IAL to start a new academic year and cannot think of a better way to brush off the cobwebs from lockdown and the summer break than by joining our upcoming (virtual) Study Forum, to be held this Saturday the 12th of September, as well as our Diploma in Law and […]

Latest issue of Art Antiquity & Law available now

Posted on: September 8, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

We are pleased to announce that the latest issue (Vol XXV, 2) of our journal Art Antiquity & Law is available now, please see below for details on subscriptions and access.  Paul Kearns provides the readers with a comprehensive panorama of the international legal regulations on freedom of artistic expression, a fundamental but much overlooked and […]

Certosa di Trisulti: Court maintained the controversial lease

Posted on: August 27, 2020 by Eleonora Chielli

The Administrative Regional Court of Lazio (TAR Lazio) has now ruled on the dispute over the controversial lease of Certosa di Trisulti, previously discussed here. The Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI) has been allowed to maintain the lease and management of this public cultural heritage site in Italy. The controversy began on the 16th of October […]

Guelph Treasure Appeal Pending in U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on: August 21, 2020 by Stephanie Drawdy

A collection of ecclesiastical art known as the Guelph Treasure (Welfenschatz) is at the center of a U.S. restitution claim brought by heirs of Holocaust victims who sold it during the Nazi reign, previously discussed here. Having held the highly valued collection for approximately six decades, Germany is unwilling to part with what it considers […]

Art and Dishonesty: The New Test

Posted on: August 12, 2020 by Geoffrey Bennett

When the worlds of Art and Crime collide consideration of the issue of ‘dishonesty’ is not likely to be far behind. Not only is it a crucial ingredient in theft it also permeates other offences such as fraud under the Fraud Act 2006, or Conspiracy to Defraud at common law, and the specific offence of […]

Roman amphoras discovered in a Spanish seafood shop

Posted on: August 4, 2020 by Manuel Valdecantos Saavedra

An intriguing case involving underwater cultural heritage was brought to light by the Spanish media towards the end of July. In the city of Alicante, a father and son, owners of a frozen seafood shop, were found to be in possession of 13 Roman amphoras, possibly dating from the 1st  Century AD, together with an […]

Man jailed following attempted theft of Magna Carta

Posted on: July 28, 2020 by Paul Stevenson

Readers of this blog may recall the 2018 attempted theft by Mark Royden of Salisbury Cathedral’s copy of Magna Carta. Reports confirm that Royden attacked the document’s protective case before being pursued by members of the public, including American tourists, cathedral staff, and stonemasons, who detained him in a works yard outside. In a welcome […]

French law will finally tackle (some) African restitutions

Posted on: July 21, 2020 by Alexander Herman

Last week, the legal review of a bill under consideration by the French government was released. Following President Macron’s statement on the restitution of artefacts to African countries in November 2017 and the release of the controversial Sarr Savoy Report the following year, this is the first we’ve heard about specific legislation on the topic. […]

Discovery of gothic sculpture in Spanish river – thoughts on Spain’s finds regulation system

Posted on: July 13, 2020 by Marta Suárez-Mansilla

Last month, a fisherman found in the Sar River, near the city of Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), a 14th-century gothic sculpture of the Virgin and Child, half-submerged, and covered in moss and slime. On paying closer attention to the shape of the object, he noticed some engravings suggesting that what he was looking at […]

Funding of the arts – meeting the sector’s needs in changing times

Posted on: July 6, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

The UK culture sector woke up to some good news today, with a Government announcement of a ‘world-leading’ £1.57 billion rescue package, set to benefit thousands of organisations suffering the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding of arts organisations has never been more relevant. With world-famous cultural institutions, such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, warning […]