The Cyclades in New York City

As the museumgoer goes up the steps from 5th Avenue, he goes through the building's entrance, turns left and faces the Stern Collection, which includes 161 Cycladic antiquities, open to the public as of Thursday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). It appears impressive, and its title, "Cycladic Art: The Leonard N. Stern Collection on Loan from the Hellenic Republic" seems to attempt to use the word "loan" to explain how things stand.

As is known, the origin of the 161 antiquities and the way in which they came under Greek ownership had been an issue that caused certain reactions. The deal agreed to by the Culture Ministry, the Met, the Museum of Cycladic Art and the newly-founded, Delaware-based Hellenic Ancient Culture Institute, which was ratified by the Greek Parliament in September 2022, was certainly unprecedented. This is the characteristic that the Met's director...