Italian authorities dropped the case against Getty Museum curator Marion True on because the statute of limitations had run out, leaving a juicy five-year long drama that hinted at backroom transactions and raided antiquities unresolved. Was there some shady dealing going on, or was it just a brilliant piece of cultural arm-twisting, in which the Italians had hundreds of questionable works returned to their control from American museums afraid of similar litigation? We’ll never know.
