60% Percentage of world’s artistic patrimony owned by Italy
35 million art & artifacts housed in Italian museums
13 million art works cataloged
1 million (circa) Percentage of art works photographed
35% Percentage of art works on display

One less Roman vase or Baroque masterpiece in a crowded basement won’t make much difference: or so seems the philosophy of the Italian government when it comes to caring for the country’s vast reserves of art. The lion’s share of these art treasures remain in a sort of limbo, neither properly catalogued nor accessible to the public. Interestingly enough, these 2000 findings are taken from a report by the Bologna-based research firm about Italy’s burgeoning art market, where sales at auctions were up 84% in 1998.

Italy’s vast, unexcavated treasure troves may finally get some protection from theft. The art-alarm idea comes from the National Research Council (CNR), which unveiled the new system at a conference on cultural conservation. “It’s a basic alarm system, good for art in general,” explained Marco Malavasi. “But it was designed to protect sites, like necropoleis, which are underground. Anytime someone starts digging or moving things around, the sensor transmits a signal to notify the authorities.” The would-be theives hear nothing and if the police can’t get there in time, experts at least have a more precise record of where and when the theft happened. For at least a hundred years, tomb raiders “tombaroli” have been ferreting out artifacts and selling them, mostly unhindered, on the international market. Roberto Conforti, who heads the special art-theft patrol of the Carabinieri, says the black market for artifacts rivals Italy’s drug and arms trade. In the last 30 years over 300,000 objects stolen from tombs have been recovered, according to Minister of Culture statistics. The alarm system may also help bring serendipitous findings into the hands of the government–current law pays accidental archeologists a maximum 25% of the value of findings, a pittance compared to what priceless objects fetch on the market.

Related resources:

www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=4890
day in the life of a tomb-raider, in English. Read it & weep..

Every once in awhile missing artifacts do come back, even if a couple of centuries later. The keys to the gate of San Gallo in Florence were returned to the city on May 9, 2000 after being stolen by Spanish troops in 1536. No one seems to be able to trace what happened to them until the pair of keys turned up at a Sotheby’s auction in 1936 where art historian Cecil Roth snapped them up. The keys would’ve been returned to the city some 30 years earlier, when Roth bequeathed them to Florence, if city officials had been quicker to process the paperwork. The pair of keys to San Gallo, one of the principal doors to the city, are the only original ones in existence.

The "Dying Gaul," museum officials call it a "turn on"

by Nicole Martinelli

Husky whispers, audacious approaches, speedy lust: according to a group of psychologists in Rome, museums are fast becoming a favorite for erotic adventures. Of the two million Italians who visited museums in 2000, 20% had some kind of "romantic interlude" while taking in the masterpieces.

Scholars at the Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies are calling the state of arousal inspired by art Rubens Syndrome. "Cultural seduction has always existed," noted sex expert Willy Pasini. "Clearly, from ancient times on, sculptures and statues have acted as catalysts to bring out eroticism."

A bit more surprising, perhaps, is that the hallowed halls of art are so high up the list of pick-up places — second only to the beach. The study noted only ‘marginal’ encounters happened in traditional meeting places such as night clubs, concerts and trains.

A guard at the Capitoline Museums in Rome confirmed the trend: "We often catch people being affectionate and sometimes more, but we’re not surprised. Take, for example, the incredible eroticism of the "Dying Gaul" statue, it’s hard to resist. Especially because visitors can walk around it and really take in the sensuous curves."

Not all artists are equally inspiring, the study noted a Caravaggio painting or Greek sculptures are considered more erotic than paintings by Venetian masters Veronese or Tiepolo.

Researchers found these top Italian’s list of amorously-inspiring art places: Palazzo Doria in Genoa, followed by Milan’s Pinacoteca and Turin’s Modern Art Gallery.

Related resources:
Eyewitness Travel Guide to Italy (revised)