The stolen painting "The Holy Trinity Appearing to Saint Clement," ascribed to Italian artist Giambattista Tiepolo, and a bronze statuette of Heracles dating from approximately 5th century BC, were returned to Italy at a repatriation ceremony at the United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.
Tiepolo’s painting was reportedly stolen from a private home in the Italian city Turin in 1982, discovered at a New York auction in January 2014, where it was confiscated by the FBI.
The statuette, worth $60,000, was stolen from a museum in Pesaro, Italy, in 1964 and was discovered when it was put up for sale by an auction house in Manhattan.
"For decades, two significant pieces of Italian heritage have been on the run… until today. We are proud to be able to return these key pieces of work back to the Italians," Diego Rodriguez, FBI assistant director, was quoted as saying by the Local.
According to Federal officials the possessors of the art pieces consented to the seizures after their theft was clearly proven.
