Nearly 70 ancient artifacts that Italy says were looted and sold to galleries abroad have been retrieved and will now go on public display in a Rome exhibition, the Minister of Culture says.Francesco Rutelli says the "Nostoi: Recovered Masterpieces" show will run at the city's Quirinale Gallery from December 21 until March 2."The odyssey of these objects began with their excavation from the bowels of the Earth," Mr Rutelli told journalists."They finish their voyage today."Forty of the 68 antiquities come from the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. They were returned after a deal with the Getty was reached earlier this year.Italy says most of the pieces had been obtained illegally on Italian soil and later sold on.Among the pieces - some of which date back to 700 BC - are an ivory carving of a face, dated at 1 BC, an Etruscan black-figured amphora and a vase from the 4th century BC.Conspicuous by its absence is The Statue of Victorious Youth - the ownership remains disputed between Italy and the Getty Museum.