Italy refuses Munich museum’s request to return ancient Roman statue bought by Hitler

MILAN (AP) — Italy’s culture minister is refusing a request by the German State Antiquities Collection in Munich to return an ancient Roman statue that embodied Hitler’s Aryan aesthetic, calling it a national treasure. The Discobolus Palombara is a 2nd-century Roman copy of a long-lost Greek bronze original depicting an athlete throwing a discus. Hitler had bought the Roman copy from its private Italian owner in 1938 under pressure from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Friday that the dispute arose when the director of the National Roman Museum requested the statue’s 17th-century marble base be returned from the Antikensammlungen state antiquities collection.