ITALY'S culture minister said that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York may be williiig to return antiquities to Italy if authorities can prove they were smuggled out of the country.
Rocco Buttigiione said Met Director Philippe de Montebello was prepared to propose to the Met's board the return of artifacts if evìdence of wrong doing were found. Mr. Buttiglione suggested that if the museum acknowledges artifacts were looted, the pieces —or substitutes for them - could be left in the Met on loan. Italy is seeking the return of a painted Greek vase dating from the sixth century B.C. from the Met's collection.