San Francisco Frontiers - Seized mafia art on display in Milan

"Works destined to remain buried in the networks of organised crime are finally returned to the community, taking on a symbolic role as resistance to crime," said Maria Rosaria Lagana, head of the national agency for administering the assets.

The agency organises auctions of some goods seized by the Italian courts, which include Ferrari cars and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Houses, apartments and agricultural land meanwhile are allocated free of charge to public bodies and non-profit organisations.

But some of the art that graced the mobsters' walls has been made public as part of the "SalvArti" exhibition.

"These are goods that obviously could have been sold, but it was decided to keep them in museums, because they are of significant value," Lagana told AFP.

More than 20 of the works at Milan's Palazzo Reale were confiscated in 2016 from a boss of the powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia, based in the southern region of Calabria.

They include a lithograph of "Romeo and Juliet" by surrealist Spanish painter Dali, located in a room dedicated to works seized by a court in the Calabrian capital Reggio Calabria.

Nearby is "Piazza d'Italia", a gorgeous oil on canvas by Italian master Giorgio de Chirico.

Around 60 other works come from a seizure ordered by a Rome court in 2013 over a giant fraud linked to an international money laundering network.

These include a screen print by pop artist Warhol entitled "Summer Arts in the Parks" and a "Wrapped Venus" lithograph by Christo.

The exhibition also features press cuttings and videos of police seizing the works, which are used as currency in drugs and arms trafficking.

Lagana said the aim was to highlight the "insidiousness of the mafia scourge" while promoting culture.

"It's a rebirth for these works. It is a bit like digging them out of the earth, like archaeologists, and putting them on display where everyone can see them," she said.

The exhibition, which is free to visit, runs until January 26 in Milan before being transferred to Reggio Calabria from February 8 to April 27.

W.Carter--SFF