US Returns Peruvian
Pre-Columbian Relics
WASHINGTON - US officials returned to Peru
two paintings of the colonial period and two
dozens of pre-Columbian relics, including
some skulls, which were seized or returned
by collectors.
The Peruvian ambassador to Washington, Luis
Valdivieso, received the objects of the Inca
and pre-Inca Moche and Nazca cultures, as
well as paintings with religious motives, La
Sagrada Familia and Santo Domingo gives the
ring to Santa Rosa de Lima.
During the ceremony, held in the Andean
nation's embassy in this capital, Valdivieso
thanked the agents of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and U.S. Immigration and
Customs for the gesture.
We recovered two paintings of great value
belonging to the colonial Cuzco school, and
about 25 artifacts such as skulls, pottery
and wood carvings, explained the
representative of Lima to reporters.
Federal authorities seized the two paintings
after smugglers tried to sell them to an art
gallery in Virginia, while the skulls were
returned by an auction house.
The remaining material was delivered on
voluntary basis by an American collector,
who bought the pre-Columbian pieces when he
lived in Peru during the 1960s.
Valdivieso said the objects will swell the
assets of the National Institute of Culture
of his country, but some would integrate
itinerant exhibitions in Peru's embassies in
the U.S.
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