Getty Museum agrees to return artefacts to Greece

ATHENS, July 11 (Reuters) The J Paul Getty Museum has agreed to return two ancient artefacts to Greece, the first instalment of a deal to send back antiquities that were illegally removed from the country, officials said.

The objects to be returned are a 2,400-year-old large stele, or grave marker, and a votive relief from the 6th century BC, the museum and Greece's culture ministry said in a joint statement yesterday.

Greece has demanded the return of at least four items from the Getty collection, including a 4th century BC gold funerary wreath and a 6th century BC marble ''kori'' statue of a woman, claiming they were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country before the wealthy Los Angeles-based museum acquired them.

''This is the first step that gives us optimism for the future'', Greek Culture Minister George Voulgarakis told reporters. ''This is an important day for the ministry.'' Getty Museum Director Michael Brand and Voulgarakis agreed in principle in May on the repatriation of some objects.

In return the museum will receive other artefacts on long-term loan and will be able to co-host exhibitions of ancient Greek art.

The Getty, among the world's richest art institutions, has been embroiled in an international art smuggling scandal since Italian authorities charged its former antiquities curator Marion True with conspiring to receive stolen goods.

True, who also faces a judicial investigation in Greece, will stand trial in Italy and has since resigned from the Getty in a whirlwind of publicity.

Her holiday villa in Greece has been raided twice in the past two months and investigators found dozens of unregistered antiquities there.

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