20-05-2025
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art returns sculptures to the Republic of Iraq
20 May 2025 09:44
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Monday that it is returning three ancient works of art to the Republic of Iraq: a Sumerian vessel made of gypsum alabaster, and two Babylonian ceramic sculptures—a head of a male and a head of a female. The works range in date from the third to second millennium repatriation follows the launch of The Met's Cultural Property Initiative, which includes undertaking a focused review of works in the collection. The Met earlier initiated the repatriation of a third-millennium BCE Sumerian sculpture to the Republic of Iraq in 2024, after provenance research by Met scholars established that the work rightfully belongs to Iraq."The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has made significant investments in accelerating the proactive research of our collection," said Max Hollein, The Met's Director and CEO."The Museum is grateful for our ongoing conversations with Iraq regarding future collaborative endeavors, and we look forward to working together to advance our shared dedication to fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iraqi art and culture," he Vessel supported by two rams (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) and the Head of a female (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) were gifted to the Met Museum in 1989 by the Norbert Schimmel Trust; the Head of a male (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) was purchased by the Museum in Head of a male, and the Vessel supported by two rams, were at one point sold by disgraced London dealer Robin Symes. Both the Head of a male, and Head of a female sculptures, are thought to be from Isin, an archaeological site in Iraq. While the Vessel supported by two rams is not known to be associated with a particular site in Iraq, it appeared on the Baghdad art market, was purchased by Swiss dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis by 1956 and later acquired by Cecile de the Museum's cooperation with the Manhattan DA's office, and as a result of its investigation into Robin Symes, the museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution.
Cultural Property InitiativeIn spring 2023, The Met announced a suite of initiatives related to cultural property and collecting practices that include undertaking a focused review of works in the collection; hiring additional provenance researchers to join the many researchers and curators already doing this work at the Museum; further engaging staff and trustees; and using The Met's platform to support and contribute to public discourse on this topic. The Met engages with countries around the globe as part of its commitment to the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has established a number of key international this year, following collaborative research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Hellenic Republic of Greece announced the return of a 7th century BCE Bronze Head of a Griffin to Greece, which will be loaned back to The Met for an exhibition in recent agreements include the transfer of ownership of two stone sculptures to the Republic of Yemen, which resulted in a historic custodial agreement stating that The Met will care for and display the stone sculptures until Yemen wishes to have them returned. Following that agreement, 14 ancient sculptures that were voluntarily repatriated to the Republic of Yemen from the Hague family collection located in New Zealand were loaned to The Met by the Republic of Yemen, who requested that the objects be held at the Museum, where they will be studied and catalogued, until Yemen requests their return.
As part of a commitment to transparency, The Met has launched object webpages for all restituted works of art, specifying that the object has been returned and to what country. The Museum has also embraced a New York State law passed in August 2022 that requires museums to publicly identify any artworks in their collection that changed hands in Europe during the Nazi era (1933–1945) due to involuntary means, with more than 50 updated object labels now installed.
