A first batch of long-contested antiquities arrived in Rome Tuesday from the John Paul Getty Museum in the United States.
"It's a major success," said Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli, announcing the arrival of four out of some 40 pieces covered by the deal clinched a week ago.
Speaking on Italian radio, Rutelli highlighted that the value of the whole package "comes to more than 300 million euros in insurance terms alone".
A formal accord in which the Los Angeles-based institute promised to hand over the art treasures, including a famous 5th-century BC statue of Aphrodite, was signed by the two sides in Rome on September 25.
The Aphrodite, a touchstone of the Getty collection and a work which Rutelli noted "has an immense value", is scheduled to come back in 2010.
But the other 39 antiquities are to be flown to Italy in two or three batches "over the next few weeks," Rutelli said.
"This is the beginning of a new era and the start of some important international cooperation," he said.
He said he hoped the return of the antiquities, after a long battle, would open an "era of transparency in the acquisition of archaeological material".
Top culture ministry official Giuseppe Proietti said the 39 works will be collected in a "transitional site" in Rome to begin with. When they are all are back in a few weeks' time a special exhibition will be set up to show them off to the public.
The accord with the Californian museum resolved a long and bitter dispute over the antiquities, with Italy initially demanding the return of 49 and the Getty offering to hand back no more than 26.
Talks on the disputed artefacts hit a crisis point last year when the Italian government threatened to cut ties with the museum unless they were returned.
FAMED BRONZE STILL DISPUTED.
The deal signed on Tuesday did not involve the most disputed object, a 3rd-century BC bronze athlete dubbed the 'Getty Bronze'. The two sides agreed to postpone a decision until legal proceedings on the case under way in Italy have been completed.
Prosecutors in the north Adriatic town of Pesaro have asked that the statue be seized, arguing that it was smuggled out of Italy illegally. A court must now rule on the case.
"The game is still on," Rutelli said Tuesday about the famous bronze, which is believed to be the handiwork of the great Greek sculptor Lysippus.
With last week's deal, Italy and the Getty agreed to bolster their cultural relations through the loaning of important art works, joint exhibitions, research and conservation projects.
Rutelli said he expected to go to the Getty in the near future to discuss details of the planned art swaps.
The deal with the Getty is the third between Italy and major US institutions.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts have agreed to return key parts of their classical collections in return for loans of equivalent value.
