Request, recovery & return: an update (Pt 2)

In brief

• The article explores the evolving issues distinguishing possession from ownership, especially in cases involving artefacts of cultural, and historical value—often complicated by national boundaries, wartime looting and shifting political contexts.
• From looted Nazi gold to the Elgin Marbles and Ethiopian artefacts, there is a tangled web of claims, counterclaims and diplomatic tensions surrounding the rightful ownership and repatriation of artefacts.

In Part 1, we considered treasure at the bottom of the sea and looted jewels (see NLJ, 5 September 2025, p20). In this concluding part, we start with ‘the Sherlock Holmes of Nazi loot’, Christopher Marinello. For 30 years, he has been tracking down stolen masterpieces, such as paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Andy Warhol. So successful is he that insurance firms, auction houses, museums, private collectors and police forces worldwide turn to him when their efforts have not produced results. In 2013, Mr Marinello, a lawyer of American origin, based in