MILAN- 284 Greek and pre-Columbian artifacts seized. The man had transformed his house into a sort of museum. Collecting ancient art objects, mostly Greek and pre-Columbian was his passion. A visceral love for statues, plates and utensils dating back to Ancient Greece, which had prompted him to illegally collect a total of 284 works of inestimable value. “I’m a fan, I did not do it for commercial purposes,” tried to justify Gianni C., the 82 years old man, quite well known in the design world, when the agents of the police of Lambrate near Milan, Italy arrived at his home of 150 square meters.
Priceless – The man, the former owner of a company and who had already received the Ambrogino d’oro award and the Golden Compass, is being investigated for receiving stolen property and illegal possession of unreported archaeological finds. A lover of travel, the 82 years old often visited the south of Italy to discover the roots of Greek culture of which he was very passionate. It is still unclear, however, how he had managed to obtain the quantity of works exhibited in the house. The police have already seized part of the assets of the pensioner and entrusted the precious objects to the Superintendency of Lombardy for cultural heritage. Starting from the two Greek amphorae which welcome guests at the entrance, officers have inspected the entire house and recovered a large quantity of artefacts and fossils of high quality and value traded on the black market in cultural objects and that the pensioner had bought for their illegal collection.
Source: http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizie/cronaca/11_febbraio_21/reperti-archeologici-19064042387.shtml