Italy has given the Austrians a sharp reminder of their
defeat by claiming the pictures which were forcibly removed from Venetia by its Austrian rulers eighty years ago, and which have since formed some of the chief treasures of the Imperial Gallery and other Vienna Museums. In 1860 Italy was forced, under protest, to renounce her right to these Venetian masterpieces by Veronese, Tintoretto, Carpaccio, and other great men, but she is now free to insist on their recovery. The Viennese authorities were told that, if they made difficulties, their food supplies would be stopped. That is the kind of language which Germans understand. Italy has suffered so much from alien invaders that we are heartily glad to see her taking steps to recover some of her stolen property. France and Belgium will also have to snake Germany disgorge.
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