The Getty Museum in Los Angeles says it will return illegally exported art to Italy

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This undated photo provided by The J. Paul Getty Museum shows Sculptural Group of a Seated Poet and Sirens. / AP

LOS ANGELES — The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is returning ancient sculptures and other works of art that were illegally exported from Italy, the museum announced Thursday.

The Getty will return a nearly life-size group of Greek terra-cotta sculptures known as "Orpheus and the Sirens," believed to date from the fourth century B.C., according to the museum.

The sculpture group was purchased by J. Paul Getty in 1976 shortly before his death and had been on display for decades.

However, the museum now believes they were illegally excavated and taken out of Italy, based on evidence uncovered by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the Getty said in a statement.

"It's just extremely rare and there's nothing similar in our collection, or closely similar in any collection," Getty Museum director Timothy Potts told the Los Angeles Times. "It does leave a hole in our gallery but with this evidence that came forth, there was no question that it needed to be sent back to Italy."

The fragile sculptures will be sent to Rome in September to join collections designated by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Getty said.

The museum also is working with the Ministry of Culture to arrange the return of four other objects at a future date. Those include a "colossal marble head of a divinity" and a stone mold for casting pendants, both from the second century A.D., along with an Etruscan bronze incense burner from the fourth century B.C. and a 19th century painting by Camillo Miola entitled "Oracle at Delphi," the Getty said.

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