ROME.- The Cleveland Museum of Art and Italy’s Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities have concluded an agreement concerning antiquities in the Museum’s collection and a mutual cultural and research exchange that opens a new era of cooperation between the Museum and Italy.

After nearly two years of discussions, the Cleveland Museum of Art has agreed to transfer 14 works from its antiquities collection to the Italian Ministry.

“This transfer demonstrates our commitment to build and maintain a collection of art from around the world and across time that is acquired in good faith using the highest ethical standards and after rigorous provenance research,” said Timothy Rub, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Italian Ministry has agreed to loan a similar number of works of equal aesthetic and historical significance from its State collections for study and display in Cleveland. The two parties have also agreed to organize cooperatively at least one exhibition and create a close association between the Cleveland museum and a cultural institution in Italy for curatorial and research exchanges in areas such as conservation and exhibition design and planning. Discussions between the Cleveland Museum of Art and Italy are anticipated to continue in the coming months to finalize these arrangements prior to the transfer of any objects to Italy.

Sandro Bondi, Minister for Cultural Assets and Activities, and Rub reached the agreement today at a meeting in Rome and expressed their mutual hope for the success of these collaborative endeavors.

“We are pleased to conclude our discussions with Italy and move into a phase of long-term cooperation and cultural exchange that will be of true benefit to our renowned institution and the residents of Cleveland and northeast Ohio,” said Rub.

Minister Bondi said, “I am very happy for such a success and for the agreement reached between the Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities and the Cleveland Museum of Art. I wish to thank Director Rub for his collaboration and farsightedness, and I am sure this will be only the beginning of a long and productive cooperation that will be an example for all the museums in the world.”

Objects that will be transferred from the Cleveland Museum of Art are:

Sicilian Plastic Vase in the Form of a Pig, Sicily, provincial Greece, 5th Century BC c. 425 BC (CMA Accession 1975.91)

Donkey-Head Rhyton, Greece, 5th Century BC c. 475 BC (CMA Accession 1977.92)

Warrior, Sardinia, 9th-8th Century BC 900-700 BC (CMA Accession 1990.1)

Apulian Volute-Krater, Darius Painter (Italian) c. 330 BC (CMA Accession 1988.41)

Red-Figure Duck Askos, Italy, probably Chiusi (ancient Clusium), Etruscan, 4th century BC c. 350 BC (CMA Accession 1975.23)

Campanian Bird Askos, South Italy, northern Campania, late 4th-ealy 3rd Century BC c. 310-280 BC (CMA Accession 1987.209)

Apulian or Campanian Red-Figure Lid with Bowl, South Italy, Apulia, 4th Century BC (CMA Accession 1986.200)

Apulian Gnathia Flat-Bodied Epichysis, Italy, Middle Gnathia, 4th Century BC 340 320 BC (CMA Accession 1986.201)

Apulian Gnathia Round-Bellied Epichysis, Italy, Middle Gnathia, 4th Century BC c. 340-320 BC (CMA Accession 1986.202)

Apulian Gnathia Lekythos, Italy, Middle Gnathia, 4th Century BC 340-330 BC (CMA Accession 1986.203)

Campanian Red-Figure Acorn Lekythos, South Italy, Campania, 4th Century BC c. 350-320 BC (CMA Accession 1986.204)

Column Krater, Greece, Late Early Corinthian-Early Middle Corinthian c. 600-590 BC (CMA Accession 1990.81)

Bracelet, pair, Italy, Etruscan, 6th Century BC 6th century BC (CMA Accession 1996.16-17)

Processional Cross, Italian, 14th c AD (CMA Accession 1977.75)