Tomb Robbers, Art Police, and Patrimony in Italy with Fiona Greenland

The Extreme History Project: The Dirt on the Past

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Fiona Greenland about her new book, "Ruling Culture: Art Police, Tomb Robbers, and the Rise of Cultural Power in Italy." Greenland reveals the contemporary actors in this tale, taking a close look at the Art Squad and state archaeologists on one side and unauthorized excavators, thieves, and smugglers on the other. Control over its cultural heritage through a famously effective art-crime squad that has been the inspiration of novels, movies, and tv shows. In its efforts to bring their cultural artifacts home, Italy has entered into legal battles against some of the world’s major museums, including the Getty, New York’s Metropolitan Museum, and the Louvre. It has turned heritage into patrimony capital—a powerful and controversial convergence of art, money, and politics. Ruling Culture: Art Police, Tomb Robbers, and the Rise of Cultural Power in Italy https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo72232678.html