ITALIAN POLICE RECENTLY MANAGED TO RECOVER HUNDREDS OF ANCIENT ARTIFACTS DURING AN OPERATION IN SWITZERLAND. VASES, BRONZE TOOLS AND MARBLE STATUES OF VENUS, SOME DATING AS FAR BACK AS THE 8th CENTURY BC, WERE AMONG 337 PIECES PUT ON TRIUMPHANT DISPLAY AT THE COLOSSEUM TODAY. THE PIECES ARE WORTH AN ESTIMATED £12.7 MILLION AND WERE RECOVERED FROM A VAST HORDE DISCOVERED IN SWITZERLAND LAST MONTH AFTER A TWO YEAR INVESTIGATION. ITALY HAS AGGRESSIVELY PURSUED THE RETURN OF ART AT SAYS WAS ILLEGALLY LOOTED FROM ITS SOIL AND SOLD TO MUSEUMS OR PRIVATE COLLECTIONS WORLDWIDE. THE PROBE CAME FROM AN INVESTIGATION INTO AN ITALIAN ART DEALER WHO WAS CONVICTED OF ART TRAFFICKING. THE OBJECTS WERE SEIZED IN GENEVA, PART OF A MASSIVE HAUL OF SOME 20,000 ARTWORKS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD, THE ART SQUAD OF THE CARABINIERI POLICE SAID. AMONG THE ITEMS RETURNED WERE 'KRATERS', HUGE CASES USED TO MIX WINE AND WATER, STATUETTES AND DRINKING CUPS. POLICE SAY THE OBJECTS WERE LOOTED FROM THE SOUTHERN REGIONS AND, WILL REMAIN AT THE COLOSSEUM AFTER THEY ARE DISPLAYED THERE. AS PART OF ITS CAMPAIGN, ITALY HAS SECURED THE RETURN OF DOZENS OF ROMAN, GREEK AND ETRUSCAN ARTIFACTS IN DEALS WITH MUSEUMS INCLUDING THE MET AND CALIFORNIA'S J PAUL GETTY MUSEUM. IN EXCHANGE, ART OFFICIALS HAVE AGREED TO GIVE THE MUSEUMS LONG-TERM LOANS OF EQUALLY SIGNIFICANT TREASURES.
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