With a dramatic flourish, the Museum of Fine Arts unveiled a more than nine-foot tall marble statue loaned by the Italian government as part of the MFA's recent agreement to return looted art that had ended up in its collection.

The statue, Eirene (Goddess of Peace), can be seen, starting Wednesday, in the MFA's Roman Court Gallery and will remain at the museum for three years. Several American museums have agreed to return looted works to Italian authorities. But the MFA, which returned 13 objects to Rome in September, is the first to receive a loan.

At an afternoon press conference at the MFA, museum director Malcolm Rogers and Francesco Rutelli, the Italian Minister of Culture, said this loan was only the first step in a new partnership between the museum and the Italian government that will include loans for an MFA exhibition on Venetian painting planned for 2009.

The Adrienne Farb exhibit opens tomorrow at Holy Cross, and the Cantor Art Gallery has more than cheese-and-crackers. At 2 p.m., in the Hogan Campus Center, a symposium features, among others, Saint Louis Art Museum Curator Charlotte N. Eyerman, the Whitney's Drawings Curator Carter Foster, and New Criterion Managing Editor James Panero. The artist reception starts at 5:30.

Speaking of which, the New Criterion's review is here, a good start to understanding what Farb's lines - see below - are all about.

Encre, No. 14 (Ink, No. 14), 2006
Brush with colored links mixed with shellac on paper
77 x 57 cm (30 1 / 4 x 19 3 / 4 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Mary Ryan Gallery, New York

Luxembourg, No. 2, 1989
Oil on linen
162 x 195 cm (64 3/4 x 76 2/ 4 in.)
Former collection of Kermit S. Champa

Weather and Sky, No. 6, 2000
Oil on linen
140 x 185 cm (55 x 72 3/4 in.)
Collection of Clément Bernard

The Museum of Fine Arts blockbuster is now open to all. Cate McQuaid tells us it's "like hoping for fireworks on the Fourth of July and being handed a sparkler." The Patriot Ledger seems more impressed. The Boston Phoenix offers the exhibition's special drink list. If you're really not into "Madame X," there's always Dedham's Museum of Bad Art.

Why?

1. The Fat Car.
2. The Fat House.
3. This slide show, linked through this story, by Cate McQuaid.

Had enough of those Philly cheese steak commercials? The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation's new campaign is "Philly: The Musical," in which "a regular guy... wakes up inspired to explore Philadelphia and The Countryside. He dances his way through 12 locations, including an outdoor cafe, a museum, an antiques shop and Boathouse Row, where he's met by ... a guy in pajamas, a teddy bear, several stunt bears, 15 professional dancers, 39 extras, the mayor and a famous director - and that's just the beginning."

The campaign will apparently hit Boston's radio stations and movie theaters within a few weeks.

Is this why Philadelphia is "eating our lunch?" And does anyone have an idea for "Boston: The Musical?"

The lineup for the [insert corporate sponsor name] Newport Folk Festival rolled out this morning. Who's coming between August 4-6? The slate includes Indigo Girls, Mary Gauthier, David Gray, Patty Larkin, Sonny Landreth, Rosanne Cash, and - unless she disappears again - Madeleine Peyroux.

The jazz festival, which runs August 11-13, features: Dave Brubeck, Kenny Barron, John Pizzarelli, Jane Monheit, George Benson, and Al Jarreau. But most intriguing is the Waterside stage lineup with Marc Ribot and a group (Cyrus Chestnut, James Carter, Reginald Veal & Ali Jackson) performing the music of Pavement.

The Exhibitionist will be here tonight. One of Jon Sarkin's works:

If you're tired of brie, head over to Tufts University's Aidekman Gallery tonight for the opening of the photography exhibit, "American Goat." As the story goes, Karl and Margaret Schatz quit their jobs in New York City, driving thousands of miles to meet, interview and photograph farmers, butchers, vets, and other members of the goat world. Why? Ask them tonight over some goat cheese. The exhibit's up through May 31. Here's one of Karl's photos:

There's a museum meeting coming to town, and not just any museum meeting. The Association of Art Museums' 100th anniversary conference opens Thursday, and is expected to be the largest gathering of museum-types anywhere, ever. Wouldn't it be a perfect time to hear from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Director Philipe de Montebello? After all, he just engineered the deal to return, or trade, looted art in the Met's collection to Italy. He's also been sort of cranky about the way American museums are being pressured by the outside world. Unfortunately, word from organizers is that de Montebello apparently isn't going to make the AAM. We're waiting for the Met to tell us why.

We've known about this for some time, but it'll be interesting to see what happens Friday night, when both Boston Lyric Opera's "Thais" and Opera Boston's "Lucrezia Borgia" open.

Opera Boston and BLO's leaders have pledged to keep this from happening again, but for those of us without a financial stake in the productions, it'll be one more interesting case in the ongoing "how hungry are Bostonians for arts events" study. Will opera lovers see two productions in one week?