Getty Museum’s signature statue might be seized by its original owner, Italy

The Getty has argued that the bronze statue is Greek in origin.

A European court on Thursday upheld Italy’s right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, ruling that Italy was right to try to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage and rejecting the museum’s appeal.

The European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, determined that Italy’s years-long efforts to recover the “Victorious Youth” statue from the Malibu-based Getty were not disproportionate.