An ancient gift returned
Italian politician Alcide De Gasperi is seen holding his grandson Paolo, now 73, who returned a 5th-century BC Attic krater to Greece last week. The artifact had been gifted to the later Italian prime minister by his Greek counterpart Alexandros Papagos in 1953 and was part of a larger offering that included a looted ancient gold necklace, according to Alcide’s daughter, Paola De Gasperi. The krater, attributed to the “Painter of the Louvre Centauromachy” (450-420 BC), features warriors preparing for departure on one side and three robed men on the other. Decorated with lotus buds, lions and boars, it is a particularly beautiful Attic vase. The last stop in the krater’s journey through the 20th century includes the official visit in 1953 by de Gasperi to Greece. Welcomed by Papagos and his wife Francesca, de Gasperi received the gift in recognition of his role in the union of the Dodecanese with Greece a few years prior. [De Gasperi Foundation]
