Piles of stuff about the Museum Case and matters spinning off therefrom over the past few days ... First, a piece from Reuters :

Italy is close to a deal with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art on the return of disputed antiquities in the latest chapter of a saga that has turned a spotlight on the international trade in stolen art.

Italy's Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione said on Friday that talks with Met Director Philippe de Montebello about an ancient bowl and silverware that Italians say were looted had taken a significant "step forward".

"An agreement with the Metropolitan is reasonably likely," Buttiglione said at a news conference.

"The museum's board is due to give us a reply by January."

The Met's negotiations with Italy are being closely watched by the international art world because authorities have accused another eight U.S. museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Los Angeles' Getty Museum, of owning stolen antiquities.

Buttiglione unveiled on Friday the three latest looted works returned from the United States: a giant head of Roman Emperor Trajan, dating from the 15th century, and two 18th century paintings by Andrea Appiani. Both were seized by U.S. customs officials at Christie's auction house in New York.

To date, the Getty has felt the fullest force of Italy's assault on the illegal art trade with a former curator, Marion True, standing trial in Rome on charges she conspired with dealers trafficking in stolen antiquities.

Buttiglione said he wanted the Met to return to Italy two of the most prized works in its antiquities collection: 3rd century B.C. silverware from Sicily's Morgantina site and the Euphronios krater, a red-figured vase from the 6th century B.C.

The Met's de Montebello has said he is ready to return the art works if they were found to have been looted. He had requested proof of the Italian provenance of the pieces and said the board also needed to approve the decision, Buttiglione said.

For many of the other disputed works in the Met's collection Italy has suggested an extended loan of longer than a decade.

"We recognise that the United States is poor in terms of antiquities," Buttiglione said.

Tomb raiders have looted antiquities in Italy for centuries but Buttiglione has spearheaded an aggressive campaign to have returned art works stolen after 1939. Italy passed a law in that year stating that ancient artefacts from digs belong to the state.

Antiquities excavated after 1939 can only leave the country on loan. Italy had recovered 27,000 stolen artefacts in 2005, including three disputed works from the Getty Museum, an increase of 50 percent on the previous year, Buttiglione said.

Meanwhile, Suzan Mazur continues her excellent series in Scoop with an interview with Oscar White Muscarella, who clearly has an ax to grind with the Met ... the New York Times reports on Italy's "going on the offensive" with antiquities ...