Acting on an accord reached last month, the Italian government is offering to lend the Metropolitan Museum of Art an array of artifacts recovered from graves in the ancient region of Etruria, in west-central Italy, to reciprocate for the Met's return of objects that Italy claims were illegally excavated from its soil.

In exchange for a Laconian kylix, or ancient Greek drinking cup, that the Met is returning under the agreement, Italy is prepared to send a comparable sixth century B.C. kylix from the necropolis of Bufolareccia, along with a selection of artifacts found in the same tomb.