ABSTRACT
Former Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Tom Hoving speaking about the now-infamous Euphronios krater since restituted to Italy after the below described scandals that rocked the art and antiquities world. In 1969, archaeologist Clemency Coggins laid bare the unauthorized destruction of pre-Colombian archaeological sites causing the irreversible loss of historical and archaeological data in order to obtain objects to sell on the international market. Museums in the United States acquire objects through purchase or donation and accept objects on short or long-term loan. A number of prominent US museums have been caught in the center of it all, often without clear documentation demonstrating proper title. Museums will conclude that their concessions are not enhancing their reputations, but have added fuel to the repatriation movement if increased transparency translates into the receipt of more claims that they do not view as being meritorious.
