Lancellotti Discobolo case: no request for return from Germany

Much ado about nothing? On the Lancellotti Disk case, there is no request for its return coming from Germany. Confirming this to Finestre Sull’Arte is the director of the Staatlichen Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek in Munich, Florian Knauss, himself. In response to an email in which our editorial staff asked for a comment on the affair, which came to light following an article in Corriere della Sera, Knauss wrote thus, “I would like to inform you that the Glyptothek has not requested the return of the Lancellotti Disk sculpture and does not intend to do so.”

So how did the news of the request for the return of the sculpture, which was sold to Hitler in 1938 and was returned to Italy after the war because the sale was forced? The quotation mark reported by the Courier says that the director reportedly said, “I am not in a position to abandon our legal claim of a return of the Discobolus to our museum.” Indeed, it is one thing not to abandon the claim of a return. But this does not necessarily involve making a formal request to Italy. So, is it likely that everything originated from a misunderstanding? In the meantime, following Director Knauss’s words, the Italians can breathe a sigh of relief: there will be no restitution claims for the Discobolus.

Pictured: the Lancellotti Discobolus at the Liberated Art exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale last year. Photo: Alberto Novelli

Lancellotti Discobolo case: no request for return from Germany

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