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From Malibu to Rome: Further Developments on the Return of Antiquities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2007

David Gill and
Christopher Chippindale
David Gill
Affiliation:
Centre for Egyptology and Mediterranean Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Wales Swansea. Email: d.w.j.gill@swansea.ac.uk
Christopher Chippindale
Affiliation:
Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Email: cc43@cam.ac.uk
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Abstract

During 2006 three major North American Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, agreed to return a significant number of antiquities to Italy. Acquisition information relating to the return of 26 items to Italy and 4 to Greece from the Getty can be added to the details known from the objects returned from Boston. A more detailed picture is emerging of how antiquities, apparently looted from Italy, were being passed through Switzerland on their way to dealers in Europe and North America. This information also points toward other antiquities that may be included in future agreements.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors are grateful to Karol Wight of the J. Paul Getty Museum for her willingness to check details about various pieces in Malibu. They are also grateful to Neil Brodie, Morag Kersel, and Peter Watson for comments on an earlier draft. Cass Cliatt (Princeton University), Jordan Rundgren (public relations manager, Toledo Museum of Art), and Lynette Nyman (press and public relations manager, Minneapolis Institute of Arts) kindly provided press releases relating to objects in their collections. Keith Padgham kindly assisted with checking some references.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 2007, pp. 205 - 240
Copyright
© 2007 International Cultural Property Society

The return of antiquities from North American museum collections to Italy gathered pace during the closing months of 2006. The agreement to return 13 antiquities from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston made a significant step forward against the background of the decision by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to return the Euphronios krater.1

Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome.” For the contexts of the New York acquisition and return, see Picón et al., Art of the Classical World, 19.

However, in late November 2006 the J. Paul Getty Museum agreed to return 26 antiquities to Italy (Appendix A).2 This was in addition to the earlier return of antiquities that included the cup attributed to Onesimos, a head of a Roman copy of a Greek original by Polykleitos, and the Asteas krater. A number of antiquities have also been returned to Greece: a Boeotian funeral relief of Athanias and a Thasian relief in the fall of 2006, and a marble kore, and a gold wreath in March 2007 (Appendix B).3

For the return of the wreath and kore to Greece: Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Set to Return Two Greek Works.” The two pieces are reported to have been purchased for $4.45 million.

It is becoming clear that many of the items being claimed by Italy have been identified by Polaroids seized in raids on premises relating to Giacomo Medici at the Geneva Freeport. This evidence is emerging as part of the Rome trial of Marion True, formerly curator at the Getty, and Robert E. Hecht, Jr. Although most of the objects have returned to Italy, it is clear that the Polaroids are providing evidence that can be used by other countries such as Greece.

THE RETURNING OBJECTS FROM MALIBU

The antiquities returning to Italy from Malibu were acquired from 1971 to 1996 (Figure 1). They range from Roman fresco fragments acquired in 1971 (Appendix A, no. 25) to a series of antiquities that formed part of the Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman collection that were added in 1996 (Appendix A, nos. 4, 5, 12, 22, 24, 26). Most acquisitions were made during the 1980s. The largest group of objects is represented by nine pieces of Attic pottery, some fragmentary (Appendix A, nos. 7–15). The near-complete nature of some of the Attic pottery implies that the pieces were found in a tomb; and Etruria is a likely, but not the only, possibility.4

For Greek pottery in Etruria, see Gill and Vickers, “They were Expendable”; Osborne, “Why Did Athenian Pots Appeal to the Etruscans?” See also Gill, “METRU.MENECE.”

A probable Italian findspot could be inferred from some of the material such as Apulian (Appendix A, nos. 16–21), Paestan (Appendix A, no. 22), and Etruscan pottery (Appendix A, no. 23); an Etruscan terra-cotta antefix (Appendix A, no. 24); and possibly a Roman wall painting (Appendix A, no. 25). In addition to these objects there were four pieces of marble sculpture, including a polychrome lekanis (Appendix A, no. 2) and a group representing two griffins attacking a fallen doe (Appendix A, no. 3). See Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 for representations of some of the antiquities discussed.

Decade of acquisition for antiquities due to be deaccessioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum and returned to Italy.

Table Support of Two Griffins Attacking a Fallen Doe. Malibu 85.AA.106. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 3].

Attic Red-Figure Kylix with King Kekrops Preparing to Make an Offering. Malibu 84.AE.569. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 9].

Fragmentary Attic Red-Figure Phiale Mesomphalos, signed by Douris. Malibu 81.AE.213. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 10].

Attic Red-Figure Mask Kantharos, Attributed to the Foundry Painter. Malibu 85.AE.263. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 13].

Apulian Red-Figure Pelike with Perseus and Andromeda. Attributed to the Darius Painter. Malibu 87.AE.23. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 16].

Terracotta Antefix in the Form of a Maenad and Silenos. Malibu 96.AD.33. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 24].

MASTERPIECES FROM THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM

In 1997 the J. Paul Getty Museum published slightly more than 100 antiquities as Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum.5

Towne-Markus, Masterpieces. For a review article of this collection, see Gill, “Review of Masterpieces.”

The objects ranged from Bronze Age Cycladic sculpture to late antique silver. Some Masterpieces, such as the Lansdowne Herakles,6

Malibu 70.AA.109. Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 106–07.

were acquired by J. Paul Getty himself, whereas other pieces joined the collection more recently. Of these Masterpieces, 15 have now been returned, or are in the process of being returned, to Greece or Italy (Tables 1 and 2). Most are representative of two main sections, the Archaic and Classical periods, and Etruria and South Italy in the pre-Roman period. Indeed, 13 items, approximately one quarter of the objects in these two sections (represented by 49 items), have been or are about to be returned. Concern about the objects presented in Masterpieces was expressed in a review article published in 1998:

The more one researches individual Masterpieces in this selection, the more one is left asking questions about provenance, authenticity, and loss of context. These Masterpieces appear to represent a major loss of knowledge in that they have probably been removed from their archaeological context in an unscientific manner. Devoid of real knowledge, all that is left is speculation masquerading as connoisseurship. If these pieces were Masterpieces in their own time and cultures, we shall probably never know thanks to the activities of the clandestini.7

It now appears that it was right to be concerned: at least 10 items in the Getty's list of 26 pieces to be transferred to the Italian state appear in Masterpieces.

Summary of objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that have been returned, or are about to be returned, to country of origin

Objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that have been returned, or are about to be returned, to their country of origin

From the “Archaic and Classical” section, seven items have been or are due to be returned. Among them is the marble kore purchased from Robin Symes that has been returned to Greece (Appendix B, no. 1). Polaroids of the sculpture, still showing attached earth, were allegedly seized in Giacomo Medici's warehouse in Geneva. A second piece of classical sculpture is a Boeotian funerary stela that was almost certainly removed from a cemetery site in Central Greece (Appendix B, no. 2). The remaining Archaic and Classical objects consisted of five Attic pots; one was returned to Italy in 1999 and the other four are due to follow (Appendix A, nos. 7, 9, 12, 13).

One item from the “Hellenistic” section was returned to Greece in 2007. The gold wreath is said to have been discovered near Serres in northern Greece in 1990 before passing through the antiquities market in Germany and Switzerland (Appendix B, no. 3).8

It was purchased for $1.15 million in 1993 with Christoph Leon of Basel acting as agent.9

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 286–87. For the price paid, see Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art”; Frammolino and Felch, “Getty Makes New Offer to Italy”; Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Set to Return Two Greek Works.”

Six items from the “Etruria and South Italy in the Pre-Roman Period” section have been or are due to be returned to Italy. These include an Etruscan terra-cotta antefix (Appendix A, no. 24), a South Italian bronze askos in the shape of a siren (Appendix A, no. 26), Apulian (Appendix A, no. 19) and Paestan (returned in 2005) kraters, a marble group of two griffins attacking a doe (Appendix A, no. 3), and a marble lekanis painted with a scene showing Thetis and the Nereids with the arms of Achilles (Appendix A, no. 2). There is a single Roman item, a second-century ad marble statue of Apollo (Appendix A, no. 1).

At least two further items from Masterpieces, the bronze athlete recovered from the Adriatic and the acrolithic statue of Aphrodite, are subject to requests from Italy (Table 3). A Corinthian olpe attributed to the painter of Vatican 73, and purchased from Robin Symes, has also been identified in the Medici Polaroids and may form part of a future request.10

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 346. This was also acquired with a Corinthian oinochoe (inv. no. 85.AE.88), attributed to the same painter, and acquired from the same source at the same time.

Objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that are under negotiation or consideration for return to country of origin

Former Owners and Private Collectors

The Getty material was derived a range of private collectors, dealers, and galleries (Table 4). Three of the pieces appear to have resided at one stage in the Maurice Tempelsman collection. Tempelsman is chairman of the board of Lazare-Kaplan, a diamond company;11

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 74, 123–25.

11 of his antiquities were sold to the Getty in 1985 through the agency of Robin Symes.12

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 124. The total value of the three pieces is given as $10.2 million, see Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art.” Symes is reported as the source for many of the Tempelsman pieces.

The three marble objects (Appendix A, nos. 1–3), which are to be returned, are said to appear in the Polaroids found in Geneva: “Each object was shown in fragments, encrusted with earth, and photographed on an Italian newspaper lying on a table with a multicolored tablecloth.”13

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 124.

There was even speculation that the three pieces had come from the same site.14

Vermeule, “The God Apollo,” 27; “They were found as a group in a mound, probably in the western Greek lands.”

Concerns about the acquisition of the marble objects were expressed in an internal memorandum of October 1985 by Arthur Houghton, one of the then curators at the Getty:

At the beginning of the month I had a chance to discuss the matter with the dealer who had bought [the] three objects from the excavators. This individual, Giacomo Medici, had sold one (the lekanis) to a second dealer, Robert Hecht, and the griffins and Apollo to a third, Robin Symes. Hecht later sold the lekanis to Symes, who then passed on the three sculptures as a group to Maurice Tempelsman, from whom we bought them. Medici informed me that he had acquired the lekanis and Apollo in 1976 or 1977, and that both had been found at the same location, a tomb which included a number of vases by the Darius Painter, at a site “not far from Taranto.” Hecht said the site was Orta Nova … Medici also said that the Apollo came from the same site, but was found in the ruins of a villa some 150 or 200 meters distant from the tomb whence the lekanis and griffins came …15

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 285–86.

Other former Tempelsman objects include the two marble portraits of L. Licinius Nepos and an anonymous balding man both in the Getty,16

Malibu 85.AA.111 and 85.AA.112. The portrait of the balding man features in Masterpieces: Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 123.

and the Middle Kingdom bronze statues allegedly from the Faiyum and now in the George Ortiz collection.17

Ortiz, In Pursuit of the Absolute, nos. 35–37.

Former owners and sources of objects to be returned by the Getty(numbers refer to Appendix A)

At least six of the pieces to be returned to Italy had formed part of the Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman collection (Appendix A, nos. 4, 5, 12, 22, 24, 26). The Getty acquired this collection in 1996, in part through donation and in part through purchase (reportedly for some US$20 million).18

John Walsh, “Director's Foreword,” in Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 7. The remainder is reported to have been valued at $40 million: Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art.” $20 million for 30 pieces.

The collection itself had been displayed at the Getty (October 13, 1994–January 15, 1995) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (February 15–April 23, 1995).19 A study of the 183 catalog entries of the Fleischman collection showed that 92% of the pieces had no known findspots; 3 had a named findspot, and 12 were given a reported findspot.20

Chippindale and Gill, “Material Consequences of Contemporary Classical Collecting,” 474–75, Tables 3 and 4. Barbara Fleischman is reported to have said in 2005: “We were absolute innocents…. We thought we were buying it from legitimate dealers. Looking back at it, maybe it was naïve” (in Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art”).

At least 91% of the items surfaced for the first time after the 1973 watershed when there was a public recognition of the issues surrounding the collecting of antiquities.21

For the choice of 1973 as a watershed: Chippindale and Gill, “Material Consequences of Contemporary Classical Collecting,” 470–71. Some would consider 1971 more appropriate. It is perhaps significant that Shelby White suggests that public awareness of looted antiquities is something new, “It is hard to apply current standards to something that happened thirty years ago” (quoted in Mead, “Den of Antiquity,” 60). The ethical standards were adopted by the AIA more than 30 years ago.

The acquisition of the Fleischman collection was controversial because although the Getty had introduced a new acquisition policy in 1995 (“the piece had to have been previously documented as being in an established collection”), the fact that the Fleischman material had been documented in a Getty-sponsored exhibition (1994–1995) and catalog meant that there was no perceived problem over its acquisition.22

For a useful overview, see Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership, 28–30, 69–70.

The collection quickly became an embarrassment to the Getty. In February 1999 the head of a Roman copy of Polykleitos' Diadoumenos had to be returned to Italy because it was apparently stolen from the excavation storerooms at Venosa.23

Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 341–44, no. 180.

The flawed acquisition policy, heralded by Marion True, has only led to the further damage of the Getty's reputation.

Pieces formerly owned by the Fleischmans were increasingly suspect after Polaroids showing items from the collection had been seized at the Geneva Freeport.24

For a list, see Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 349–52.

Documentation has shown that this material passed into the collection through the hands of Fritz Bürki, Robin Symes, and Atlantis Antiquities (co-owned by Robert E. Hecht, Jr.).25

For a loan (now returned) from Atlantis Antiquities to the Getty, see Gill and Chippindale, “The Illicit Antiquities Scandal.”

The Fleischmans also bought from other collectors: the Etruscan terra-cotta antefix (Appendix A, no. 24) once resided in the Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt collection.26

Tompkins, Wealth of the Ancient World, no. 16; Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 195–97, no. 92. The Hunt collection was sold at Sotheby's, New York, on June 19, 1990.

Among the Fleischman pieces was an Attic red-figured calyx-krater signed by Syriskos (Appendix A, no. 12).27

For the significance of the signature, see Moore, Attic Red-figured and White-ground Pottery, 96. See also Smith, “Eurymedon and the Evolution of Political Personifications,” 133.

This was purchased from Robin Symes in 1988; Polaroids showing the restoration of the krater were found in the raid in Geneva.28

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 120–21.

The krater is interesting because it carries an apparently ancient price inscription suggesting that it was valued at 1 stater. Such a value is important because it is worth considerably more than other known ancient prices.29

Gill, “Pots and Trade”; Gill, “Positivism, Pots and Long-distance Trade”; Gill, “A Greek Price Inscription from Euesperides, Cyrenaica.” One stater was worth an Attic tetradrachm, so the equivalent of approximately 17 g of silver. For an alternative reading of ancient prices see Boardman, The History of Greek Vases, 156–58.

These commercial graffiti have demonstrated that pottery was relatively cheap in antiquity and certainly not a luxury like silver and gold plate; a single silver phiale could have a bullion value of 1 mina (i.e., 100 drachmas).30

Vickers and Gill, Artful Crafts.

This position is in contrast to those who would argue for the high place of pottery in antiquity and therefore its value for contemporary collectors who can justify the high prices demanded by the antiquities market.31

Boardman, The History of Greek Vases, 158, where a link is acknowledged between the low price of pottery in antiquity and the value placed on Greek pottery by modern collectors. Boardman's views are echoed by Dr. Alan Walker in an online review article of Atwood, Stealing History (2004) published on the web site of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (http://accg.us/issues/editorials/pro/walker) and quoted in full by Wayne G. Sayles of the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild in evidence submitted to the U.S. Government Committee on Ways and Means (http://waysandmeans.house.gov).

Such ancient price inscriptions are extremely rare on pottery found in Tuscany, and it is thus likely that the Syriskos calyx-krater was discovered in a cemetery of one of the western Greek colonies in southern Italy or Sicily. The intellectual consequences of such looting are apparent: Where was such a price for Athenian pottery asked? This of course assumes that the commercial graffito was added in antiquity and not inscribed in recent years by an experienced hand.

One of the other donors of the returning Italian antiquities was Vasek Polak of Canada. Among the objects associated with Polak is the Etruscan dusk askos (Appendix A, no. 23) that was reported as having once been in the S. Schweitzer collection (1940). The Schweitzer collection certainly existed. Sir John Beazley was familiar with pottery from this collection in his studies of Attic black- and red-figured pottery that were published in 1956 and 1963 respectively, and several of these pieces now reside in the Antikenmuseum und Sammlung Ludwig in Basel.32

Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 184. For Beazley's study of Attic figure-decorated pottery, see Beazley, Attic Black-figure Vase-painters; Beazley, Attic Red-figure Vase-painters.

However, Watson and Todeschini have made the suggestion that the Schweitzer collection has been used as a convenient way to launder recently surfaced antiquities as it was difficult to cross-check the original contents of the collection.33

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 95. For further comments on their work, see Gill and Chippindale, “The Illicit Antiquities Scandal.”

In an auction at Sotheby's, London, on July 15, 1980, 16 Greek pots said to come from the collection surfaced.34

Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 275, Table 15. This included two Attic pots, Lots 40 (now Melbourne, University 1980.0209, see Connor and Jackson, A Catalogue of Greek Vases in the Collection of the University of Melbourne, 124–27, no. 43), and 55 (location unknown).

What was their documented history prior to the sale? The duck askos was not the first piece from the Getty associated with the Schweitzer collection to be returned to Italy. Fragments of the Onesimos cup were also said once to have been in the Samuel Schweitzer collection of Arlesheim.35

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 95. Further on the Onesimos cup, see Elston, “Technical and Aesthetic Considerations.”

In 1982 Polak also donated one of the fragments for the calyx-krater attributed to the Berlin painter (Appendix A, no. 14). The earliest fragment was donated in 1977 by Herbert L. Lucas, a trustee of the Getty, and this was followed by further gifts from Dietrich von Bothmer (1984) and purchases from Galerie Nefer (1984) and Frederick H. Schultz, Jr. (1987). Together the price paid for the purchased fragments is reported to have been $101,900.36

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 226.

It has already been observed that the fragments arrived in batches. Von Bothmer has indicated that his policy was to donate fragments from his personal collection “when they would fit another vase in the collection,”37

Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 331. For further comments on von Bothmer as a collector of fragments, see Gill and Chippindale, “The Illicit Antiquities Scandal.”

but this does not explain the origin of the fragments. It is unknown if the fragments of a calyx-krater attributed to the Berlin painter and loaned by Giacomo Medici via Atlantis Antiquities in 1987 were indeed from the same krater.38

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 95–97.

Among Polak's other gifts to the Getty was an Attic grave stele presented to the museum in 1982.39

Malibu 82.AA.135.

Gordon McLendon donated two Apulian pots to the Getty in 1977 (Appendix A, nos. 20, 21). McLendon, who was involved in radio stations, collected antiquities in part derived from Summa Galleries and Numismatic Fine Arts.40

For Hecht's link with Bruce McNall and Summa Galleries, see Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 130. For McNall and Numismatic Fine Arts, see Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 254.

It is alleged that Frel encouraged donations from McLendon at an “exaggerated appraisal.”41

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 362 no. 3.

In 1977 McLendon also donated an Attic volute-krater attributed to the Kleophrades painter that remains in the Getty.42

Malibu 77.AE.11.

Dealers and Restorers

Most antiquities being returned to Italy from the Getty passed through the hands of dealers and restorers in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and North America. At least two of the dealers were, at the time, members of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA); one of the two galleries, Galerie Nefer, has recently resigned from the organization.43

The authors are grateful to Michael Petropoulos (Galerie Rhéa, Zurich) of the IADAA for this information (January 30, 2007). For earlier observations on a member gallery of the IADAA and the Boston return, see Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome,” 320–21.

This in itself raises serious issues about the usefulness of the ethical guidelines used by members of the IADAA and the monitoring of members to ensure that recently looted antiquities do not pass through their hands.

North America

One returning Getty piece was acquired from Atlantis Antiquities in New York (Appendix A, no. 17). This gallery was jointly owned by Robert E. Hecht and Jonathan Rosen, and some of the Boston deaccessioned antiquities had also passed through it.44

Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome.”

A fragment of one calyx-krater was purchased from Frederick H. Schultz, Jr. (Appendix A, no. 14).45

Also noted by Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 227, 240.

Schultz was imprisoned and fined in June 2003 for handling looted antiquities; he was involved with Jonathan Tokely-Parry, who faced trial in the United Kingdom.46

Watson, “The Investigation of Frederick Schultz”; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 238–40. For Schultz's trial, see Gerstenblith, “Recent Developments in the Legal Protection of Cultural Heritage,” 69–74.

The Roman fresco fragments (Appendix A, no. 25) were purchased from The Royal Athena Galleries in New York owned by Jerome Eisenberg; two deaccessioned antiquities in Boston were handled by the same gallery.47

Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome,” 320–21, 325, nos. 10–11.

The Royal Athena Galleries supplied 14 South Italian pots to the Getty in the same year.48

Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 178. Nørskov observes, “From 1971 to 1974 acquisitions in general were made at high speed, due to the construction of the famous villa which houses the Getty collection.”

A further North American source for the Getty material was the Acanthus Gallery in New York (Appendix A, no. 12).

United Kingdom

Robin Symes was the main U.K.-based dealer in antiquities who handled several of the Getty pieces. These included three pieces of Attic pottery (Appendix A, nos. 8, 9, 12); in one case the Getty acquired the pot through the Fleischmans (Appendix A, no. 12). Symes also handled the archaic kore (Appendix B, no. 1), and the three pieces from the Tempelsman collection (Appendix A, nos. 1–3).49

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 125, 198.

Apart from these objects, that have been returned or will be returning to Greece and Italy, Symes was the source for a group of Cycladic pots originally from the Erlenmeyer collection in Switzerland purchased by the Getty in February 1991.50

Apostolidis, Archaiokapilia, Fig. 60 (image of letter). Four of the pots appear in Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 14–15, see Malibu 91.AE.28–31 (plus 91.AE.27 not in Masterpieces). These formerly belonged to the Erlenmeyer collection, see Doumas, Silent Witnesses, nos. 1–5. For the Erlenmeyers' close association with Cycladic objects apparently looted from Greece, see Sotirakopoulou, The “Keros Hoard.”

Switzerland

At least six of the returning antiquities from the Getty were handled by Fritz Bürki (Appendix A, nos. 5, 7, 13, 16, 18, 19), whose associations with Hecht and Giacomo Medici have been documented elsewhere.51

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy; Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome.”

Two pieces passed through the Galerie Nefer, Zurich (Appendix A, nos. 10, 14). Until recently, Galerie Nefer was a member of the IADAA.52

Listed on http://www.iadaa.org (accessed on January 29, 2007, but page dated to December 2005; Galerie Nefer was no longer listed on April 30, 2007). The gallery was founded in the early 1980s, see Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 253.

The gallery is owned by Frida Tchacos, the wife of Werner Nussberger who has donated two items to the Getty (Appendix A, nos. 6, 10). The fragments of the Douris phiale (Appendix A, no. 10) came from either the Galerie Nefer or Nussberger.53

The point is also made by Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 211–12, 227.

Yet, this picture is only partial because Symes and Bürki are also reported to have held fragments.54

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 212.

An Attic red-figured calyx-krater (Appendix A, no. 11) passed through Münzen und Medaillen in Basel before being acquired by the Morat-Institut in Freiburg and then was sold to the Getty by Christoph Leon of Basel. Leon also sold the gold wreath to the Getty, which has been returned to Greece (Appendix B, no. 3).55

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 286–87.

Leon was involved with selling antiquities to other museums, for example, the four Apulian pots to the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.56

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 199–200.

Further reports suggest that he brokered a deal over a classical bronze that surfaced on the Munich market.57

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 246.

At least seven Getty pieces appeared in Polaroids found on Medici's premises in the Geneva Freeport.58

For a convenient list of pieces associated with the Getty, see Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 344–49.

Among them was a Pontic amphora formerly in the Fleischman collection, the Douris phiale and an Attic cup signed by Douris (Appendix A, nos. 5, 9–10). One link between the Getty and Medici is illustrated by telling comments in a letter from Marion True to Medici on January 22, 1992. In concluding she mentions, “I am enclosing with this letter, with my compliments, a copy of Greek Vases 5. I hope that you enjoy it. I think that you will find many pieces included that you will recognize.”59

An image of the letter can be found at http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2005–09/19604121.pdf (accessed December 22, 2006).

The implication is clear: Medici handled some of the pots before they were acquired by the Getty. A study of the sources for the pots and fragments illustrated in volume 5 of Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum (1991) suggest some possible lines of enquiry (Table 5). Six pieces were acquired from the Bareiss collection in 1986.60

Nørskov, Greek Vases in New Contexts, 304. For the Bareiss collection, see Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection.

Of the remaining pieces, one of the most common sources for these items was Galerie Nefer, in other words Frida Tchacos; her husband is named as the donor of several pieces.61

Mr. and Mrs. Werner Nussberger are named as the source of three Coptic items given to the Princeton University Art Museum, inv. 88–46, 47, 48, see Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,” 53.

Indeed in three cases, Nussberger gives the fragment of a pot, and this was followed some years later by purchases from Galerie Nefer. Was the gift intended to set the purchase in motion? Another interesting source for items in Getty Vases volume 5 was the Hydra Gallery; items include a fragment purchased in 1985. This gallery was the base for Christian Boursaud, who appears to have been the agent for Giacomo Medici.62

Watson, Sotheby's, the Inside Story, 117–19.

One of the other Getty fragments was purchased from Antike Kunst Palladion of Basel, run by Ursula (“Rosie”) Becchina, wife of Gianfranco Becchina.63

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 291–92

One illustrated piece from Getty Vases volume 5, the Douris phiale, is to be returned to Italy; and the Onesimos cup has already been returned.

Details of pots and fragments illustrated in Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum volume 5 (1991)Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 51–53, no. 36, 79, no. 150.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 51–53, no. 37, 79, no. 151.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 81, no. 172.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 81, no. 178.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 50–51, no. 35, 82, no. 181.

OUTSTANDING ITEMS IN THE GETTY

The items to be returned to Italy by the Getty are not the only pieces identified in Polaroids seized in Geneva.69

It is reported that a further twenty items have been requested by the Italian authorities, see Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Risks Embargo, Italy Warns”; Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Set to Return Two Greek Works.”

At least eight further pieces from the Fleischman collection have been linked (Table 6). Five passed through the hands of Bürki and two through Robin Symes. It is possibly significant that a note linked to one of the Attic black-figured amphorae showed that “RG” had claimed that the amphora was “found together with” two other pots, one owned by Robert E. Hecht, and a hydria in the possession of Robin Symes.70

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 119–20, 348.

Objects formerly in the Fleischman collection identified by Watson and Todeschini as appearing in Polaroids in Corridor 17 GenevaBased on Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 349–52. (excludes material due to be returned to Italy and listed in Appendix A)Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 237–40, no. 120; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347, 349.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 82–83, no. 34; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348, 350. For earlier publication, see Atlantis Antiquities, Greek and Etruscan Art, 38–41, Fig. 35.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 84–85, no. 35; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348, 350–51.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 94–95, no. 39; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 351.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 125–28, no. 56; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347, 351–52. This is the “name vase” of the Choregos painter.Two further Apulian bell-kraters are listed, see Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 129–35, nos. 57–58. No. 57 (Malibu 96.AE.112), attributed to the Rainone painter, was known to A.D. Trendall in the collection of Castello dei Landriani, Vidigulfo. No. 58 (Malibu 96.AE.113), attributed to the Cotugno painter, surfaced on the Swiss market.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 251–52, no. 126.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 250–51, no. 125.

The Geneva Polaroids also identify non-Fleischman material, mostly pottery, in the Getty. These include a Corinthian olpe and a Corinthian oinochoe, both attributed to the painter of Vatican 73 and both purchased from Robin Symes in 1985.71

Malibu 85.AE.88 and 85.AE.89 (Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 28). Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 346.

Two pieces were said to have passed through an old British collection, the Rycroft Collection. These are an Attic red-figured amphora, with an inscription Haisimides kalos, purchased from Antike Kunst Palladion in Basel, which had acquired it “from a company owned by Gianfranco Becchina,”72

Malibu 79.AE.139. Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 345–46. For the amphora, see Brommer, “Herakles und Theseus auf Vasen in Malibu,” 195, Fig. 13.

and an Attic red-figured cup (type A) attributed to Epiktetos that was given by Michael R. Milken in August 1983.73

Malibu 83.AE.287. Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 346. For Milken see his personal web site: http://www.mikemilken.com.

Because both appear in Polaroids, the cup “not only dirty but fragmented,” it seems likely that this history of being associated with the Rycroft collection was fabricated.74

A point made in Gill and Chippindale, “From Boston to Rome,” 314.

A fifth piece appearing in the Polaroids is an Attic janiform kantharos, attributed to the Vatican class and the Sabouroff class, and purchased from the Royal Athena Galleries in New York.75

Malibu 83.AE.218 and 83.AE.242. Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 349.

There are also two important pieces of sculpture in the Getty that have been requested by the Italian government, but they do not form part of the present agreement. The first is an acrolithic statue (in part consisting of marble from the island of Paros) perhaps representing a goddess.85

Malibu 88.AA.76. Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 82–83. See also Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art.” In March 2007 the J. Paul Getty Museum announced that it would hold a symposium in May 2007 as preparatory for a possible return to Italy.

The statue surfaced in Switzerland, apparently in a private collection in Lugano, passed through the hands of Robin Symes, and soon after its acquisition for $18 million in July 1988 was the subject of an Interpol enquiry.86

Details in Gill, “Review of Towne-Markus, Masterpieces”; Carabinieri and Gribbon, “Aphrodite”; Philp, “No Love Lost with Getty Museum.” It is reported that Renzo Canavesi, a Sicilian, sold the statue to Symes.

Thomas Hoving “declared” that Morgantina in Sicily has the original find spot.87

Carabinieri and Gribbon, “Aphrodite.”

At the time of acquisition Malcolm Bell was said to comment, “I know of no reason to argue that [the statue] was found at Morgantina.”88

Carabinieri and Gribbon, “Aphrodite.”

Two reasons were given: No such acrolithic statue was found at Morgantina, and a late fifth century bc date was when the city was in decline. Such statues are uncommon and there is no reason to discount Morgantina as a possible findspot. Some scholars date the statue to the third century bc, so it is difficult to map the statue onto historical events. It has also been suggested that the statue was in private hands since 1939; but there appears to be no documentary evidence to support this and it is clear from the return of material from Boston that attributions to old collections are being fabricated. A development occurred in 2006 when Bell refuted the words that Marion True had attributed to him.89

Bell, “The Getty Aphrodite: A Reply.” The statue has been the subject of a closed conference held at the Getty in May 2007.

The second statue is a bronze of a victorious youth acquired by the Getty in 1977 for a reported $3.95 million.90

Malibu 77.AB.30. Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 56–57; Mattusch, The Victorious Youth. See also Moltesen, “The Reopened Getty Villa,” 157, who suggests that the find-spot in the sea off the Italian coast is no more than “alleged.”

There is general agreement that it was found in the Adriatic off Fano, but there is a dispute about whether or not it was found in international waters. It appears to have been fished from the sea in the early 1960s and certainly by 1965.91

Mattusch, The Victorious Youth, 20. Elsewhere Mattusch has suggested the date 1961, see Mattusch, The Fire of Hephaistos, 33, caption to Fig. 18.

The statue was subsequently acquired in 1971 by Heinz Herzer of Munich. Little is known about the shipwreck, but one report suggested it may have been Medieval in date.92

Stewart, Greek Sculpture, 315. Stewart dates the statue to the fourth or third centuries bce, and places it in the School of Lysippos (p. 200).

Countries other than Italy or Greece may have claims for other objects in the Getty. Among the Masterpieces are the mummy portrait of Isidora “probably from el-Hibeh (Ankyronpolis)” acquired in 1981,93

Malibu 81.AP.42, see Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 116; Walker and Bierbrier, Ancient Faces, 113, no. 108. Purchased from Archeart Invest S.A. of Fribourg. The company went into liquidation in 1994.

a Roman cameo glass flask with an Egyptian scene said to have been found at Eskişehir, Turkey, before passing through a Swiss private collection,94

Malibu 85.AF.84, see Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 104; Harden, Glass of the Caesars, no. 36. Purchased from Robin Symes; formerly part of the Ernst and Martha Kofler-Truniger collection, sold at auction at Christie's, London, 1985.

and a Roman cameo glass skyphos decorated with satyrs and young women “said to have been one of a pair found in a Parthian tomb in Iran.”95

Malibu 84.AF.85, see Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 105; Harden, Glass of the Caesars, no. 31. Purchased from Mehdi Mahboubian, a New York art dealer.

Equally telling is a group of Roman bronzes that may have formed part of a single ancient display, but the whereabouts of the original monument is no longer known. But it is significant that the three Roman bronzes in the Getty, togate magistrates, a bronze Ceres or Juno, and a bronze Roma or Virtus, “travelled through the art market” with a Victory with a Cornucopia now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.96

Malibu 84.AB.670, 84.AB.671, and 85.AB.109, see Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 112–13, 115. Two of the Malibu pieces were purchased from Robin Symes (84.AB.670 and 671), and the other was purchased from Maurice Tempelsman (85.AB.109). Cleveland Museum of Art 1984.25. For the four bronzes, see Kozloff et al., The Gods Delight, 333–43, nos. 64–66. The link between the four pieces was stated in Gill, “Review of Masterpieces.”

The associations with Symes and Tempelsman are perhaps suggestive, and moreover it is telling that in April 2007 it was reported that the Italian government requested the return of the Cleveland Victory.97

POSSIBLE FUTURE REQUESTS TO NORTH AMERICAN MUSEUMS

The success of the Italian authorities in obtaining the return of antiquities from three major museums in North America means that the spotlight will be turned onto several other collections that are reported to have acquired antiquities from the same route. These are likely to include the Cleveland Museum of Art (see Figure 8), the Toledo Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Princeton University Art Museum.

Decade of acquisition for antiquities in the Cleveland Museum of Art which were reported by Mazur as requested by the Italian Government (April 2007).

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The museum is alleged to have acquired “looted material” from Hecht, and is said to have had “close relations” with Becchina.98

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 109, 293.

In 2006 Mazur identified a number of pieces in the collection, all likely to have been found in Italy given their fabrics (Apulian, Campania, Lucanian, and Paestan)99:
  • A Lucanian calyx-krater, attributed to the Policoro painter: 1991.1100; ex-Hunt collection and sold 1990; alleged to have been purchased from Hecht
  • An Apulian bell-krater, attributed to the Choregos painter: 1989.73101

    The “name vase” of the Choregos painter is one of the Apulian kraters being returned by the Getty. Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 128, under no. 56.

  • An Apulian volute-krater, attributed to the Darius painter: 1988.41
  • A Campanian red-figured acorn lekythos: 1986.204; gift of Jonathan Rosen
  • A Paestan black-figured lekythos: 1985.1; allegedly acquired through Hecht

A more extensive list of objects reportedly claimed by the Italian government was published by Mazur in April 2007.102

This list included material that was known before the UNESCO 1970 convention. Among them was a Roman silver cup found in the sanctuary at Vicarello in Italy and first published in 1866,103

Cleveland 1966.371. This passed through the collections of R. Garrucci, Naples; Sir William Drake, London; Edmond de Rothschild, Paris. For bibliography, see Oliver, Silver for the Gods, 142–43, no. 95.

and fragments of a Roman marble sarcophagus acquired in 1925.104

Cleveland 1925.945. Gift of J.H. Wade.

More recently acquired objects (i.e., post-1970) included the bronze statue of a barbarian, “said to have been found near Taranto,”105

Cleveland 1987.64. Kozloff et al., The Gods Delight, 344–46, no. 67.

a bronze Herakles, and a bronze Lar, “purchased together and conceivably found [together],”106

Cleveland 1987.2 and 1987.3. Kozloff et al., The Gods Delight, 323–29, nos. 61 and 62. Both appeared in the annual reports for Artemis S.A. (Luxembourg, 1985–86, 1986–87).

and a Victory with Cornucopia that “travelled through the art market and conceivably found with” three bronzes in the Getty.107

Cleveland 1984.25. Kozloff et al., The Gods Delight, 340–43, no. 66.

No detailed response has as yet been made by the museum.108

James Kopniske of the Cleveland Museum of Art kindly informed us that there was as yet no formal press statement from the museum.

The Toledo Museum of Art

It was noted by Watson and Todeschini that Hecht sold the Toledo Museum of Art “looted material.”109

Sewell reports that an image of the Etruscan kalpis, attributed to the Micali painter and showing Dionysos and the pirates, was found among the Geneva Polaroids.110

Toledo 82.134. Boulter and Luckner, The Toledo Museum of Art, 14–16, pl. 90 (973) 1–3. For the allegations, see Sewell, “Ancient Vase to be Returned if Stolen.”

The cup was acquired from a dealer in 1982. The Toledo Museum of Art issued a statement about the kalpis:

In April 2001, the Toledo Museum of Art provided copies of its documentation and correspondence regarding an Etruscan kalpis to Thomas A. Karol, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Ohio (Toledo), U.S. Department of Justice. The Museum understood that such information was solicited at the request of the Italian government. Since supplying the requested information, the Museum has received no further inquiries. The Museum has cooperated with all official inquiries and will continue to do so.111

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

An Attic red-figured volute-krater, attributed to the Methyse painter, was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald C. Dayton; it was purchased from Robin Symes in 1983.112

Minneapolis Institute of Arts 83.80. Padgett, “Influence of a Satyric Drama on a Vase by the Methyse Painter.” For full details, see Padgett, “An Attic Red-figure Volute-krater.”

It was said to have been in private collections in Switzerland and Great Britain for about 15 years leading up its acquisition in 1983. The piece is reported to have been identified by one of the Polaroids seized in Geneva. According to the official statement issued by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in November 2005:

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has learned that an object in our permanent collection could be among a number of objects in American museums that the Italian government alleges to have been recently excavated in Italy. We have not been contacted by the Italian authorities about this object. We have seen only an electronic image of a detail of the shoulder of a vase, which we received from a Los Angeles Times journalist without any accompanying documentation. As a leading museum, we uphold the principle that all collecting be done according to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice. Although no contact or claim has been made, to date, by the Italian authorities, we are nonetheless taking the matter seriously, and, if after gathering the facts it is established that the Italian government has a legitimate claim, we will respond in an appropriate and responsible fashion.113

The Princeton University Art Museum

Four pieces in Princeton are reported by Osellame to be under investigation.114

The first is an Attic red-figured psykter, attributed to the Kleophrades Painter, and given to the Princeton University Art Museum by a group of Princeton alumni, Peter Jay Sharp (class of 1952) through the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; Lloyd E. Cotsen (class of 1950); John B. Elliott (class of 1951); and Jonathan P. Rosen through the Joseph Rosen Foundation.115

Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,” 46 (ill.), 47 (catalog entry); Lissarrague, Greek Vases, 29, Fig.17.

Sharp was a real estate developer and served on the Princeton University Art Museum advisory council until 1987. Cotsen was the president of Neutrogena but had a long-standing interest in classical archaeology as a member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens116 and as a benefactor of the Institute of Archaeology that bears his name at UCLA. Elliott had an interest in Greek pottery with his own collection.117 Rosen is a New York lawyer who was joint owner with Hecht of Atlantis Antiquities in New York.118

Rosen was the donor of other antiquities to Princeton. These include a white-ground Attic vicup, said to have been found at Taranto (with a vicup in a private collection in New York, and another one on the New York market, both attributed to the same workshop as the Princeton cup by Robert Guy), inv. 1988–7, museum purchase, and gift of Peter W. Josten and of Jonathan P. Rosen through the Joseph Rosen Foundation (Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1988,” 53; Gaunt, “A Cup in Princeton”); an Attic red-figured lekythos, attributed to the Phiale painter, inv. 1990–59 (Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1990,” 58); the fragment of an Attic red-figured cup (inv. 1991–63), attributed to the Amphitrite painter, which fits fragments acquired in 1989 as a museum purchase, gift of Joyce von Bothmer (inv. 1989–84) (Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,” 48; Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1991,” 71).

Hecht recalls a psykter in his Memoirs:

Mauro [Moroni] met me [Hecht] at the airport and we drove directly to his home in Cerveteri to show me the vase. It was a psykter, a vase used for wine cooling, decorated with reclining banqueters drinking from various vessels … Within a few days Mauro delivered the psykter to Zurich and we concluded the deal at $225,000.119

Quoted in Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 178.

This psykter was offered to the Getty but is reported to have been turned down because it was thought that the pot was a forgery. The psykter was subsequently acquired by Princeton.120

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 179.

The other pieces in Princeton under discussion are said to be an Apulian loutrophoros, an Etruscan plaque, and a Roman silver cup.121

Osellame, “Italian Government Says University Owns Stolen Art.” The inventory numbers have not been made public in the news reports. Possible pieces could include the Apulian loutrophoros, attributed to the Darius painter (inv. 1989–29), museum purchase, anonymous gift (Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1989,” 47 [ill.], 53 [text]), and the recently acquired Roman silver cup (inv. 2000–356), museum purchase (Princeton University Art Museum, “Acquisitions of the Art Museum 2000,” 90 [ill.]).

A press statement was made by Princeton in relation to the psykter and the loutrophoros in November 2005:

In December 2004, Italian authorities investigating an alleged violation of the laws of Italy requested details about the acquisition in 1989 of two ancient Greek painted ceramic vases by the Princeton University Art Museum.

The vases in question are an Athenian red-figure wine-cooler (psykter), dating to 510 to 500 bc, and an Apulian red-figure loutrophoros of about 330 bc. In January 2005, the art museum provided Italian authorities with the information requested. Since that time, the museum has received no further communication from authorities in Italy, but they are quoted in recent press accounts as stating that they possess evidence that the two vases left Italy illegally and should be returned. According to Susan M. Taylor, who has been director of the Princeton University Art Museum since 2000, “The museum purchased these vases in good faith and has no knowledge of any wrongdoing associated with their acquisition. If proof of illegality is presented to the museum, the vases will be returned, as we have returned other items in the past.”122

Princeton University Statement. 2005.

SUMMARY

A study of the antiquities to be returned by the Getty to Italy has raised several issues and has highlighted the corrupting influence of a flawed acquisition policy over the last 35 years. It is important to praise both the Getty and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for their transparency in this matter because they agreed to the return of their items. The acquisition histories have been made available without any restrictions (see Figure 9).123

The Getty's October 2006 acquisition policy now states: “6. All information obtained about the provenance of an acquisition must be preserved, and … all such information shall be made available to the public upon written request.” For the policy: www.getty.edu/about/governance/pdfs/acquisitions_policy.pdf (accessed on April 23, 2007).

It is hoped that such openness will be offered by the other museums and collections reported to contain objects over which the Italian government may have some claim.

Decade of acquisition for antiquities deaccessioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.

There are several lessons to learn from these cases of returning antiquities. First, it is clear that it was nearly impossible to build up a collection of legitimately provenanced masterpieces in the closing decades of the twentieth century either through purchases on the open market or by the acquisition of contemporary North American private collections. High-quality finds that are unknown to scholarship are very likely to be fresh finds from looted sites. The antiquities acquired since 1970 have been liberally peppered with items that appear to have surfaced through illicit digging. A collection such as that formed by the Getty is widely acknowledged as containing items with “no provenance or known context.”124

Museum curators must restrict acquisitions for objects that are known to have surfaced—and are securely documented—prior to the UNESCO Convention of 1970.125

Conveniently found at www.unesco.org (accessed May 14, 2007), and Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership, 93–102. The new Getty acquisition policy (October 23, 2006) explicitly uses November 17, 1970 (the date of he UNESCO Convention) to define the surfacing of archaeological material. For a good example of an archaeologically-based North American collection, see Bald Romano 2006.

Second, the evidence suggests that the attribution of objects to old collections can be deliberately falsified. The placing of objects in uncataloged (or partially cataloged) late nineteenth-century collections seems to be a calculated move on the part of some dealers. Museums need to have certified evidence of the attribution. Word of mouth can no longer be used as evidence.

Third, bodies such as the IADAA need to demonstrate that their members do stick to their guidelines. James Ede, managing director of Charles Ede Ltd. and a vice-president of the IADAA, recently commented, “For many years, responsible dealers have been aware of the damage uncontrolled excavation does and have fought hard to distance themselves from those who operate outside the law and to avoid purchasing the fruits of such activity.”126

The appearance of objects that have passed through the galleries of members of the IADAA and that appear in the list of returning objects from both Boston and the Getty can only suggest that the IADAA guidelines are little more than window dressing. Has the IADAA taken appropriate action against members that flout their guidelines? Some scholars have been quick to defend dealers and the antiquities market, and in so doing have implicitly endorsed the continuing destruction of archaeological sites; but such views are in a minority.127

Boardman, “Archaeologists, Collectors, and Museums.” For Boardman's wider position, see Scarisbrick, “A Classical Warrior.” See also Gill, review article of Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and the Antiquities Trade.

Fourth, it is clear from studies of the Boston and Malibu material that the same names of dealers and restorers are appearing, among them Bürki, Hecht, and Symes. The organigram linked to the Medici conspiracy seems to lead into the heart of these institutions.

Fifth, dealers in antiquities may have devised strategies to ensure sales to the Getty by using pottery fragments to initiate an acquisition process. A sale was planned to take several years, perhaps started by an initial donation and then followed up by sales from key dealers, notably Galerie Nefer. This selling strategy seems to have included the deliberate breaking of pots to make the system work.

These returns of antiquities are damaging to the reputations of fine public institutions and their curatorial staff. Whereas in past decades major museums may have been seen as the final resting place for collections in private hands, the acquisition of a collection like that formed by the Fleischmans has only brought severe embarrassment to the Getty. Who would now acquire the Shelby White and Leon Levy collection knowing that several of the items appear in the Polaroids seized in Geneva and that the Italian authorities have reportedly asked for the return of antiquities?128

Pavoledo, “Top Collector is Asked to Relinquish Artifacts”; Vala, “Italy Versus the Illicit Trade.” It is perhaps significant that the Leon Levy and Shelby White Court will open in April 2007 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Failure by Shelby White to resolve this issue can only be detrimental to the reputation to the MMA. For an interview with Shelby White, see Mead, “Den of Antiquity,” especially 60.

The acceptance of a gift or bequest, let alone an outright purchase, by any museum would almost certainly be followed by a formal request for their return. Will Shelby White do the honourable thing and return her antiquities to the appropriate foreign governments?129

For Shelby White's view of collecting, see White, “Building American Museums.” For the collection, see von Bothmer, Glories of the Past. Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, regards Shelby White and Leon Levy as “those two most generous and dedicated New York collectors” (in Picón et al., Art of the Classical World, vii). For a discussion of the collection, see Taylor, “Shelby White in Center Court at the Met.”

The story is far from over. There are thousands of antiquities now residing in public and private collections still to be identified from the seized Polaroids. There is already a short list of antiquities which museums in North America, Europe, and Japan should return before formal requests are made by the Italian and other governments.130

For the links between the Miho Museum and Becchina, see Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 294–96. The Taipei Times reported (January 12, 2007) that the Italian authorities had requested the return of the 50 items from the Miho Museum.

Failure to cooperate will only further damage the reputations of museums, their curatorial staff (past and present), and their trustees. Much of the focus has been on antiquities that have returned to Italy but it is clear that other countries such as Greece and Turkey have strong moral claims on antiquities that have clearly been removed from sites in their countries. Further more substantial returns of antiquities can be anticipated.

POSTSCRIPT

On August 1, 2007 the J. Paul Getty Museum announced that a further 14 objects would be returned to Italy in addition to the objects discussed here. Seven of the additional items were formerly in the Fleischman collection; some are listed in Table 6.

Press release: http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/italy_getty_joint_statement_0801070.html

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APPENDIX A

Objects to be returned to Italy from the J. Paul Getty Museum (statement November 2006)

Sculpture

1. Statue of Apollo. 85.AA.108. Marble. Purchased from Maurice Tempelsman, New York.131

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 117.

2. Lekanis. 85.AA.107. Marble, polychrome. Purchased from Maurice Tempelsman, New York.132

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 92.

3. Two griffins attacking a fallen doe. 85.AA.106. Marble, polychrome. Purchased from Maurice Tempelsman, New York.133

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 90–91.

4. Statuette of Dionysos with an animal. 96.AA.211. Marble. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman, New York.134

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348, 352; Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 339–41, no. 179.

Pottery

Pontic

5. Pontic amphora. 96.AE.139. Attributed to the Tityos painter. Sold by Fritz Bürki (1988) to the Fleischmans; gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman.135

De Puma, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 23–24, Pls. (1766–1770) 489, 1–2, 490, 1–2, 491, 1, 492, 1–3, 493, 1–2; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348; Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 190–92, no. 90.

Known from a Polaroid seized in Geneva.

Corinthian

6. Fragmentary Corinthian olpe. 81.AE.197.2. Gift of Werner Nussberger. This may be one of the olpai referred to in a letter from True to Medici (January 1992): “I was also very grateful to have the information on the provenance of our three fragmentary proto-Corinthian olpai. To know that they came from Cerveteri and the area of Monte Abatone is very helpful for the research of one of our staff members.”136

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 98.

Attic

7. Attic black-figured zone cup. 87.AE.22. Manner of Lysippides painter (attributed by Robert Guy). Purchased from Fritz Bürki & Son, Switzerland.137

Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 35.

8. Attic red-figured kalpis (hydria). 85.AE.316. Attributed to Kleophrades painter. Purchased from Robin Symes. Known in fragments from Polaroids seized in Geneva.138

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 344–45.

9. Attic red-figured kylix (cup, type B). 84.AE.569. Signed, “Douris egraphsen.” Purchased from Robin Symes. Polaroids seized in Geneva.139

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 344–45; Ober and Hedrick, Birth of Democracy, 61, Fig. 5.1; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 41.

10. Douris phiale fragments. 81.AE.213. Gift of Werner Nussberger (81.AE.213); purchase from Galerie Nefer (85.AE.18, 85.AE.185, 88.AE.30); anonymous loan (L.92.AE.88.2–3). Polaroids seized in Geneva.140

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 346.

11. Attic red-figured calyx krater. 88.AE.66. Attributed to Copenhagen/Aegisthus painters. Surfaced in Basel, Münzen und Medaillen; then Freiburg, Morat-Institut; purchased from Christoph Leon.

12. Attic red-figured calyx-krater. 92.AE.6 and 96.AE.335. Syriskos (signature). Purchased from Robin Symes (1988); New York, private collection (Beazley archive); purchased from New York, Fleischman collection (92.AE.6); purchased from Acanthus Gallery, New York (96.AE.335). Known from Polaroids seized in Geneva.141

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 120–21, 346; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 46.

13. Attic red-figured mask kantharos. 85.AE.263. Attributed to Foundry painter (Robert Guy). Euphronios as potter. Alleged to have been with Robin Symes (1982–1984) and seen there by Robert Guy; exported to Switzerland; purchased from Fritz Bürki & Son, Switzerland (US$200,000).142

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 91; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 42.

14. Group of red figure calyx fragments (Berlin painter, Kleophrades painter). 77.AE.5. Gift of Herbert Lucas.

a. Berlin painter (attributed by Frel). Gift of Herbert Lucas (77.AE.5); gift of Vasek Polak (82.AE.124); gift of Dietrich von Bothmer (84.AE.972); purchase from Galerie Nefer (84.AE.68); purchase from Frederick H. Schultz, Jr. (87.AE.51).

b. Kleophrades painter (attributed by Robertson). Gift of Herbert Lucas (77.AE.5.5, 77.AE.5.8).

15. Attic red-figured bell krater. 81.AE.149. Gift of Max Gerchik.

Apulian

16. Apulian red-figured pelike. 87.AE.23. Attributed to Darius painter. Purchased from Fritz Bürki & Son, Switzerland.

17. Apulian red-figured loutrophoros. 84.AE.996. Attributed to the Metope group. Purchased from Atlantis Antiquities, Ltd., New York.

18. Apulian pelike with arms of Achilles. 86.AE.611. Attributed to Near the Group of Ruvo 423. Purchased from Fritz Bürki & Son, Switzerland.143

The pelike is reported to have been purchased for U.S.$42,000 in July 1986, see Felch and Frammolino, “Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art.” It is reported that Hecht claimed, “the Carabinieri were looking for the pelike with the arms of Achilles.”

19. Apulian red-figured volute krater. 85.AE.102. Attributed to the Sisyphus painter. Purchased from Fritz Bürki & Son, Switzerland.144

Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 82.

20. Apulian red-figured volute krater. 77.AE.14. Gift of Gordon McLendon.

21. Apulian red-figured volute krater. 77.AE.13. Gift of Gordon McLendon. Attributed to White Saccos painter.

Paestan

22. Paestan squat lekythos. 96.AE.119. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. Attributed to Asteas.145

Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 146–49, no. 65.

Etruscan

23. Etruscan red-figured plastic duck askos. 83.AE.203. Said to be from S. Schweitzer collection (1940); gift of Vasek Polak (Canada). Known from Polaroid in Geneva.146

Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348.

Terra-cotta

24. Antefix in the form of a maenad and Silenos dancing. 96.AD.33. “Said to come Cerveteri.” Formerly Hunt collection; purchased from Lawrence Fleischman, New York. Known from Polaroid in Geneva.147

Tompkins, Wealth of the Ancient World, no. 16; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347; Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 78.

Wall Paintings

25. Fresco fragments. 71.AG.111. Purchased from the Royal Athena Galleries, New York.

Bronze

26. Askos in shape of siren. 92.AC.5. Bronze. Purchased from Lawrence Fleischman, New York.148

Towne-Markus, Masterpieces, 80.

APPENDIX B

Objects returned to Greece IN 2006 and 2007 from the J. Paul Getty Museum

1. Marble kore, Parian. 93.AA.24. Purchased from Robin Symes. Returned 2007.

2. Grave stele of Athanias. 93.AA.47. Purchased from Safani Gallery. Returned 2006.

3. Gold funerary wreath. 93.AM.30. Purchased from Christoph Leon. Returned 2007.

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Figure 0

Decade of acquisition for antiquities due to be deaccessioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum and returned to Italy.

Figure 1

Table Support of Two Griffins Attacking a Fallen Doe. Malibu 85.AA.106. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 3].

Figure 2

Attic Red-Figure Kylix with King Kekrops Preparing to Make an Offering. Malibu 84.AE.569. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 9].

Figure 3

Fragmentary Attic Red-Figure Phiale Mesomphalos, signed by Douris. Malibu 81.AE.213. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 10].

Figure 4

Attic Red-Figure Mask Kantharos, Attributed to the Foundry Painter. Malibu 85.AE.263. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 13].

Figure 5

Apulian Red-Figure Pelike with Perseus and Andromeda. Attributed to the Darius Painter. Malibu 87.AE.23. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 16].

Figure 6

Terracotta Antefix in the Form of a Maenad and Silenos. Malibu 96.AD.33. Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum [Appendix A, 24].

Figure 7

Summary of objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that have been returned, or are about to be returned, to country of origin

Figure 8

Objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that have been returned, or are about to be returned, to their country of origin

Figure 9

Objects that appeared in Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Antiquities (1997) that are under negotiation or consideration for return to country of origin

Figure 10

Former owners and sources of objects to be returned by the Getty(numbers refer to Appendix A)

Figure 11

Details of pots and fragments illustrated in Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum volume 5 (1991)Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 51–53, no. 36, 79, no. 150.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 51–53, no. 37, 79, no. 151.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 81, no. 172.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 81, no. 178.Getty Museum, Greek Vases: Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection, 50–51, no. 35, 82, no. 181.

Figure 12

Objects formerly in the Fleischman collection identified by Watson and Todeschini as appearing in Polaroids in Corridor 17 GenevaBased on Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 349–52. (excludes material due to be returned to Italy and listed in Appendix A)Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 237–40, no. 120; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347, 349.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 82–83, no. 34; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348, 350. For earlier publication, see Atlantis Antiquities, Greek and Etruscan Art, 38–41, Fig. 35.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 84–85, no. 35; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 348, 350–51.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 94–95, no. 39; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 351.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 125–28, no. 56; Watson and Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, 347, 351–52. This is the “name vase” of the Choregos painter.Two further Apulian bell-kraters are listed, see Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 129–35, nos. 57–58. No. 57 (Malibu 96.AE.112), attributed to the Rainone painter, was known to A.D. Trendall in the collection of Castello dei Landriani, Vidigulfo. No. 58 (Malibu 96.AE.113), attributed to the Cotugno painter, surfaced on the Swiss market.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 251–52, no. 126.Getty Museum, A Passion for Antiquities, 250–51, no. 125.

Figure 13

Decade of acquisition for antiquities in the Cleveland Museum of Art which were reported by Mazur as requested by the Italian Government (April 2007).

Figure 14

Decade of acquisition for antiquities deaccessioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.