MUSEUM OF RECOVERED TREASURES

The new Museo Dell'Arte Salvata (Museum of Recovered Art) opened this month in a disused hall of the Baths of Diocletian archaeological complex near Rome's Termini Station. The Museum is a tribute to Italy's unique police corps dedicated to tracking down and recovering the thousands of antiquities and works of art smuggled out of Italy and sold illegally abroad. Known as Caschi Blu (due to their blue helmets), the Commando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (Carabiniere for the Protection of Cultural Heritage), the squads of experts work not only in home territory, but also in war zones abroad where ancient monuments and treasures are threatened.

The policy of the Italian Ministry of Culture is to return items, whenever possible, to minor museums in the territory where they were discovered. However, this is not always possible, explained Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, since tomb robbers tend to cancel all traces of their illegal activities. The museum display will be rotated every four months in order to exhibit different items in the vast collection of recovered treasures.

M. STENHOUSE

Info: Tel. +39.06.684861 www.museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it