Sabratha portrait head returned to Libya

Source: MiBAC

A Roman portrait of Domitilla Minor that was found at Sabratha in Libya will be returning home. The head had surfaced at Christie's in London where it appears to have been provided with a falsified collecting history that had placed it in a Swiss private collection in the 1970s. In fact the head had been stolen from the Sabratha Archaeological Museum in 1990.

The head was handed over by Professor Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister.

The return raises serious issues about the rigour of the due diligence process conducted by auction-house. Will Christie's be revisiting their procedures?

The handover ceremony [press release from MiBAC]