LIMA, Feb 18 (NNN-ANDINA) — The U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has returned two religious paintings belonging to Peru’s cultural heritage to its Consul General in New York, Ambassador Marita Landaveri, during a ceremony held at the Peruvian diplomatic mission’s venue in the North American metropolis.
Both artworks were made on canvas using the oil painting technique in the baroque style. According to estimates, these two paintings were crafted in the central Peruvian highlands in the 1800s.
The Homeland Security Department seized both Peruvian paintings from a private art gallery in October 2023 once an expert had authenticated their provenance.
Homeland Security Investigations Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Paul Salamon, emphasized that his country is proud to collaborate with the Peruvian Government to recover valuable pieces of its rich cultural heritage from illegal trafficking.
Salamon underscored that today’s repatriation is possible thanks to our Bilateral Agreement on Cultural Property, which exemplifies the close collaboration between the HSI and law enforcement agencies, both domestically and internationally, to return cultural heritage to the Peruvian people.
In turn, Consul General Landaveri thanked the HSI for its collaboration in recovering part of Peru’s cultural heritage, which has incalculable value for Peruvians.
The restitution of these pieces is the outcome of the close collaboration between the United States and Peru —within the framework of the Agreement for the Protection of Cultural Heritage renewed in 2022. It has been in force for more than 26 years.
To date, and thanks to this treaty, more than 2,000 pieces belonging to Peru’s cultural heritage have been returned to the South American country.
The return carried out in New York City is part of continuous efforts to recover and return cultural property to Peru.
MENWHILE, three pre-Hispanic mummies (two adults and one infant), repatriated from the Vatican City in 2022, have been declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, due to their historical, scientific, and social value.
The declaration was made official via Deputy Ministerial Resolution No. 000046-2024-VMPCIC/MC, signed by Deputy Cultural Heritage and Cultural Industries Minister Haydee Rosas and published in El Peruano Official Gazette.
In its corresponding report, the General Directorate of Museums indicates that movable property, due to its characteristics, cranial remodeling, and mortuary rope treatment —which are practices typical of pre-Hispanic societies in the central Andes over a period of time— are part of the historical past of those that are currently missing.
It also indicated that the mummies have relevant social significance, since their recovery constitutes an effort on the part of the Peruvian State to promote repatriation and protection of cultural heritage, as well as the will of foreign governments to return cultural heritage to its place of origin.
As is known, the mummies returned to Peru following an initiative launched by the Vatican, and the coordination carried out by the Culture sector and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with ecclesial authorities of the Holy See. — NNN-ANDINA
