ABSTRACT
In December 2002, under increasing pressure to disavow antiquities collecting and return some of the objects they had in their collections, the directors of 19 of the world’s most prestigious art and archaeology museums issued the Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums. They noted in no uncertain terms that:
The international museum community shares the conviction that illegal traffic in archaeological, artistic, and ethnic objects must be firmly discouraged. We should, however, recognize that objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values, reflective of that earlier era. The objects and monumental works that were installed decades and even centuries ago in museums throughout Europe and America were acquired under conditions that are not comparable with current ones. 1
