Submitted by Sir Joshua, Dec 7, 2006 07:57

Mr. de Montebello, I must say, is in a rather amusing position. Representative of the liberal avant guard socially concerned world-culture thinker class, he is now in the position of having to fess up to the PC culture which is frankly killing this country on oh so many levels. Like the ancient Roman image of the snake biting it's own tail, Mr. de M. works for a firm that it trying to hold onto it's raison d'etre. Taken to it's logical socially concerned PC conclusion...everything at the Met would have to go back to where it came from. Big bad American money, greed, and cultural omnivorism would have to be punished. We're bad and the Third (and Second) World want's it's revenge.

For some reason the fact that locals probably sold half of the items now in the Met's antiquities collection and that sustained an economy which otherwise would not have existed. And provided a tourist economy that is paramount to both Italy and Egypt, this is really a case of a country having it's cake and wanting to eat it too. Besides, what would they do with all of the 'stuff' that would come back? Put it in storage??? I'd rather see the Euphroneous krater back in the Met with a sign stating, 'Property of the Italian Government' yet know that it is cared for, appreciated, and part of the worlds education than know that it was back in the country of origin (which didn't even know it existed until it was out of the country) and gathering dust in a Roman sub basement with an inventory number 47 didgets long as it's only identification.

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