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Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
$2.2 Million Worth of Ancient Artifacts Trafficked Through New York Are Returning to Greece and Italy
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office recently announced the recovery of two groups of ancient artifacts that would be returned to Greece and Italy. A repatriation ceremony took place on February 25 for 11 ancient Greek artifacts, including a votive figurine from 1300-1200 BCE and a marble funerary relief from 4th-3rd century BCE. More from Robb Report 3 Men Are on Trial for Allegedly Stealing and Selling a $6 Million Gold Toilet How a Former Hollywood Exec Turned a Derelict Italian Villa Into a Stunning Home Inside Trailblazing Artist Jack Whitten's First Retrospective Show at MoMA Other artifacts being returned include a Hellenistic statuette of the mythical heroine Atalanta, an aryballos depicting a battle scene from 600-500 BCE, and a Dionysian kantharos from the 4th century BCE. The collection of items were recovered by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and are valued at approximately $1 million, according to a report by the Athens newspaper Kathimerini. The news followed the announcement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. on February 18, of 107 objects valued at $1.2 million that would be sent back to Italy. The artifacts had been recovered from multiple ongoing investigations and were connected to several known smugglers of antiquities, including Giacomo Medici, Giovanni Franco Becchina, and Robert Hecht. Some of the recovered pieces were also connected to London-based art dealer Robin Symes, who was convicted of contempt of court for lying about antiquities he held in storage locations around the world in 2005; and Swiss gallery owner Herbert Cahn. Among the most notable items were a Terracotta Kylix Band-Cup from the middle of the 6th Century BCE, a Apulian Volute Krater from 320-310 BCE, and a Bronze Patera fropm 4th Century BCE. The press release said the Kylix, a type of drinking cup 'was found and illegally excavated from the Etruscan archaeological site of Vulci in the 1960s before it was smuggled out of Italy by the New York and Paris-based dealer Robert Hecht. It was eventually acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2017 where it remained until it was seized' by the office's Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU). The Krater, a terracotta vase from a Greek colony in Southern Italy, was allegedly trafficked by Almagia into New York and sold to a Manhattan based gallery before 1987. The ATU recovered it from a private collection last year. The patera bowl was smuggled out of Italy by convicted antiquities trafficker Gianfranco Becchina, made its way to New York-based antiquities dealer Mathias Komor, and sold to the present owner before it was also seized by the ATU earlier this year. The announcement also noted that Edoardo Almagià had also been charged and was the subject of an arrest warrant. On February 24, the Metropolitan Museum of Art also announced it was returning a 7th-century bronze head donated by a former trustee head to Greece following a review internally of its provenance records. The museum's researchers concluded it was likely illegally removed from the Archaeological Museum of Olympia in the 1930s, though details of the removal aren't known. Best of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
Euronews
26-02-2025
- Euronews
Ancient artefacts worth over €2 million to return from New York to Greece and Italy
A special repatriation ceremony held on Tuesday (25 February), attended by Greece's Minister of Culture Dr. Lina Mendoni and the Consul General of Greece, Ifigeneia Kanara, marked the return of eleven ancient Greek pieces. These included a votive figurine dating from 1300-1200 BCE and a marble funerary relief from the 4th-3rd century BCE. Other treasures being sent back to Greece include a Hellenistic statuette of Atalanta, a battle-scene aryballos (flask) from 600-500 BCE, and a Dionysian kantharos (cup) from the 4th century BCE. The Greek items recovered by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office are estimated to be worth around $1 million (€953,000), according to Greek newspaper Kathimerini. 'The return of these pieces is the product of a substantial and ongoing investigation into several traffickers,' District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. said in a statement. 'I am pleased we have now seized more than 120 antiquities throughout the investigation, and that is continuing to this day. I am grateful to our antiquities trafficking team and partners in Greece for their outstanding collaboration and partnership.' The seizure of these objects comes after a similar announcement earlier this month, when District Attorney Bragg revealed the recovery of 107 Italian artefacts valued at $1.2 million (€1.14 million). These items were also linked to notorious antiquities smugglers such as Giacomo Medici, Giovanni Franco Becchina, and Robert Hecht. Among the most significant of the Italian items was a Terracotta Kylix Band-Cup from the mid-6th century BCE. This ancient drinking vessel was found at the Etruscan site of Vulci in the 1960s and smuggled out of Italy by dealer Robert Hecht. It was later acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2017 before being seized by the DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU). Other notable pieces include an Apulian Volute Krater from 320-310 BCE and a 4th-century BCE Bronze Patera, both of which were also smuggled by high-profile traffickers before being recovered by the ATU. Since its creation at the end of 2017, the ATU has recovered almost 6,000 antiquities valued at more than $460 million (€439 million) and has returned more than 5,400 of them to 29 countries, the unit says. This latest repatriation effort follow's the Metropolitan Museum of Art 's announcement earlier this week that it would return a 7th-century bronze head to Greece, following an internal provenance review. The museum's researchers determined the artefact had likely been illegally removed from the Archaeological Museum of Olympia in the 1930s, though the specifics of its removal remain unclear.
