Silver Pyxis Lid Returned from VMFA

Silver pyxis lid formerly VMFA inv.  82.181.

Among the returning antiquities from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a silver pyxis lid. My colleague Christos Tsirogiannis has confirmed that an image is in the Becchina archive with the annotation indicating a link with Robert Hecht. Another colleague has confirmed that the the lid was a gift of Jonathan Rosen, an associate of Hecht in Atlantis Antiquities.

VMFA has yet to release a list of the returns that contains the inventory numbers as well as the previous histories (so-called 'provenance'). The museum also appears to have scrubbed the digital record of these accessions unlike some other institutions that have recorded their deaccessions. 

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Gnathian Askos Returned from Virginia MFA

Gnathian Askos formerly in Virginia MFA 80.72

One of the announced returns from the VMFA is a Gnathian askos attributed to the Rose painter (inv. 80.72). This was identified from a photograph in the Medici Dossier by Christos Tsirogiannis ten years ago:

Tsirogiannis, C. 2013. "Nekyia. From Apulia to Virginia: An Apulian Gnathia askos at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts." Journal of Art Crime 10: 81-86.

The museum purchased the askos from Fritz Bürki. One wonders what other pieces in the collection were derived from this source.

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Virginia MFA Returns Antiquities

Apulian lekythos. Formerly Virginia MFA 80.162

It has been announced that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond will be returning 44 antiquities to their countries of origin, namely Egypt, Italy and Türkiye (see press release). The press release gives limited information and omits inventory numbers. One of the pieces is a bronze Etruscan warrior that was stolen from the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bologna in 1963 (apparently inv. 2014.217).

Other pieces that can be identified included an Attic marble funerary stele apparently handled by Gianfranco Becchina (inv. 79.148), and a pair of Apulian lekythoi attributed to the Underworld painter that were acquired from Fritz Bürki (inv. 80.162, 81.55; the one acquired in 1980 was a gift of the Council of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on the Occasion of its 25th Anniversary) [see earlier post]. A group of funerary terracottas from South Italy, and acquired in 1985, forms a large batch within the return.

Another piece is the marble statue of a boy (inv. 89.24) that was identified ten years ago by Christos Tsirogiannis:

Tsirogiannis, C. 2013. "A marble statue of a boy at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts." Journal of Art Crime 9: 55-60.

The statue was purchased from Galerie Nefer (Freida Tchacos) though it can be traced back to Becchina. 

We look forward the VMFA releasing more details about  the returns. 

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Bubon Bronzes Returning to Türkiye

Portrait of woman. Source: Manhattan DA

Among the antiquities being returned to Türkiye today are several bronzes associated with the Sebasteion at Bubon ("D.A. Bragg Announces Return of 41 Antiquities To The People of Türkiye", December 5, 2023; see here). It is reported to have been handled by Robert Hecht. Among the other pieces are two bronze heads of Caracalla, one from Fordham University, and the other that had been seized from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Two pieces have been returned from Boston's MFA: the head of ruler, and the right leg (perhaps linked to a statue of Commodus). Both Boston pieces are linked to Jerome Eisenberg.

Details of the other items being returned to Türkiye (but unassociated with Bubon) are not provided in any detail except for a silver statue of Cybele that was seized from Michael Ward (see observations from ARCA).

Reconstruction of part of the Sebasteion at Bubon. Source: David Gill

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The Parthenon Sculptures and the political arena

Metope from the Parthenon © David Gill

Listeners to Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament today can hardly have failed to notice that the Parthenon marbles are very much a live issue (see "PMQs: Rishi Sunak accuses Greek PM of grandstanding over Elgin Marbles", BBC News 29 November 2023). This follows the cancellation of a planned meeting between the British Prime Minister and the Greek Prime Minister that had been due to take place earlier in the week ("Sunak cancels Greek PM meeting in Parthenon Sculptures row", BBC News 28 November 2023). 

So much of the debate has been about whether or not the British Museum has the legal powers to return the sculptures. The Leader of the Opposition has hinted that he would be open to supporting a loan to Athens ("Parthenon Sculptures: Row about politics as much as history", BBC News 28 November 2023). 

But the art historical position is surely this: was the intention of the sculptors who created these architectural marbles—as well as Pheidias who oversaw the project—that they should be displayed together rather than to be dispersed? And should they be placed so that the public can see them in line of sight with the Parthenon? 

Then there is a cultural question: how can the display of the sculptures in Athens enhance the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Athenian Akropolis? 

© David Gill

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The Wild Goat Plate Fragment and Francavilla Marittima

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University has returned a Wild Goat fragment to the Italian government. The statement notes:

In June 2021, Italy’s Ministry of Culture presented the Carlos with photographic evidence that the Carlos fragment joins with two other fragments from the same plate. One fragment, currently housed in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico della Sibaritide, was unearthed during official excavations at the Timpone della Motta Sanctuary in Francavilla Marittima. The second fragment was returned to Italy from a European museum following evidence it had come from illegal excavations at Timpone della Motta.

This is no doubt associated with the 3500 fragments acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1979 and 1983: the 1983 batch included joining fragments from the Institute of Archaeology in Bern. Other museums, including the Ny Carlsberg in Copenhagen, are said to have fragments from this same cache. 

The main cache of material was returned to Italy in 2001, four years before the Carlos Museum acquired its fragment. 

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The Michael C. Carlos Museum and the Becchina Archive

Image from the Becchina photographic archive courtesy of Christos Tsirogiannis;
objects in the Michael C. Carlos Museum

The Michael C. Carlos Museum has issued details of the five items that will be handed over to Italy (and three of them will remain on loan). Three of the pieces—the Laconian cup, the Attic Band Cup, and the Apulian fishplate—feature in images from the Becchina archive. The implications of the images are clear: "the fact that the Carlos could not determine where the [cup] was before it was with Palladion, there is a high probability the cup was looted".

This makes us turn to two other pieces in the Carlos Museum that feature in the Becchina archive: the Minoan larnax and the Rhodian pithos. The larnax is now only said to have been with Nikolas Koutoulakis, whereas in 2022 it was said to be 'with' Koutoulakis. What is the basis of the evidence? Does the Becchina image and paperwork suggest that it passed to other collections? Note that the larnax later passed to Noriyoshi Horiuchi in Japan.

The history for the pithos that is placed on the Carlos Museum website makes no mention of it passing through the hands of Becchina or Palladion Antike Kunst. Has the history as it has been presented been fabricated? What is the authenticated documentation for the Carlos Museum version of events? Was it supplied by the vendor, Phoenix Ancient Art? 

The curatorial staff at the Carlos Museum are clearly wanting to do, and be seen to do, the professional thing by returning objects to their countries of origin when new information comes to light. (Incidentally the pithos and larnax were discussed in the Greek press in June 2007 after they had been identified in the Becchina archive by Christos Tsirogiannis.)

Where does this leave other Becchina material in the Carlos Museum?

I am grateful to Christos Tsirogiannis for sharing the images with me.

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LHIII Glass Necklace(s) at the Michael C. Carlos Museum

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

In 2004 the Michael C. Carlos Museum purchased a series of LHIII glass necklace fragments from Harry Bürki (inv. 2004.037.001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009, 010, 011, 012, 013, 019, 023). There were also some LHIII glass bead fragments (inv. 2004.037.014, 016, 017, 018, 020, 021, 022, 024, 025, 026, 027, 029, 030, 031, 032).

There is no mention of previous publication ('to our knowledge, this object has never been published') or previous owners. How did Bürki acquire them? Where were these fragments between 1970 and 2004? What was the museum's justification for acquiring them? What was the rigorous due diligence process?

Also in 2004, Phoenix Ancient Art gave the Carlos Museum a series of LHIII glass necklace fragments: rosette (inv. 2004.017.001, 002, 003, 004), double rosette (inv. 2004.017.009, 010, 011, 012), octopus (inv. 2004.017.005, 006, 007, 008). There was also a gold 'necklace element in the form of a papyrus spray' (inv. 2004.017.020).

There is no mention of previous publication or previous owners. How did Phoenix Ancient Art acquire them? Where were these fragments between 1970 and 2004? What was the museum's justification for acquiring them? What was the rigorous due diligence process?

Will the Carlos Museum be providing the background information to these acquisitions given the sensitivity over the so-called Aidonia Treasure? Is there a reason that some of these pieces do not appear to feature on the AAMD Object Register, or that for others there are pictures on the Object Register but not on the museum's website? 

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The Michael C. Carlos Museum and an Apulian Fishplate

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University has noted that it will be returning an Apulian fishplate attributed to the group of Karlsruhe 66/140 (inv. 1986.015). The website provides the so-called 'provenance':

Probably with Gianfranco Becchina, Zurich, Switzerland. Ex coll. William Knight Zewadski, United States, purchased from Sotheby's London, 17 May 1983, lot 261. Deaccessioned by MCCM for repatriation to the Italian Republic, August 29, 2023.

What does 'probably with' mean? What is the basis for returning the fishplate? Who consigned the piece to Sotheby's in London in 1983? 

What other ex-Becchina pieces in the Carlos Museum need explaining?

I am grateful to Dr Cynthia Patterson for drawing my attention to this piece of information.

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Boston Returns Two Bronzes Linked to Bubon

The @mfaboston has handed over their 2 Bubon pieces to the Manhattan DA. I brought these pieces' origins at Bubon to the museum's attention 2 years ago. They neither acted on the info nor added it to their website (as below): pic.twitter.com/DZPKZOFEdN

— Elizabeth Marlowe (@ElizMarlowe) October 31, 2023

Elizabeth Marlowe has drawn attention (on X) to the return of two bronzes associated with Bubon in Türkiye from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

One is a right leg acquired in 1967 as a gift from Jerome M. Eisenberg and Alan Ravenal (inv. 68.732). The leg appeared in the Harvard exhibition, The Fire of Hephaistos (1996), no. 16: 'now associated with the group of sculptures from ancient Bubon'. Vermeule (1980) linked it with the Bubon series (no. N). Jale Inan (1994) linked the leg with the torso in a private collection (Inan: 'Dr Sackle') and identified as Commodus (Vermeule no. K; Fire of Hephaistos, no. 55). Inan also linked it with the left thigh that appeared on the New York market (Vermeule no. T). A composite image is provided in Inan's study (pl. xxix).

The second piece is a bronze head that was in the possession of Eisenberg in 1966 when it was shown to Vermeule. In 1967 it was sold to a private collector, and in 2003 was presented to Boston by an anonymous donor (inv. 2003.786). 

Display of imperial bronze statues at Bubon.
Reconstruction: David Gill based on Jale Inan.

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Peter Sharrer, the Carlos Museum and another return to Italy

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

A fragment of a Wild Goat style plate was returned from the Michael C. Carlos Museum to Italy on August 29, 2023 (inv. 2005.026.001). 

Its history is recorded as follows:

Ex private collection, New York, 1976. Ex coll. Peter Sharrer, New Jersey. Purchased by MCCM from Sotheby's New York, June 7, 2005, lot 23. Deaccessioned by MCCM for repatriation to the Italian Republic, August 29, 2023.

This is not the only Sharrer fragment that was acquired by the Carlos (see here). And Sharrer's name has been associated with other returns.

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Michael C. Carlos Museum and Italy

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

There have been unannounced developments at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University (no mention in the press releases). At least three items have had their title transferred to Italy on 29 August 2023 and now appear as loans. I am grateful to Dr Cynthia Patterson who spotted the changes to the records.

The objects include:

• a Laconian cup attributed to the Rider painter (L2023.004.003). Surfaced via Palladion Antike Kunst, Basel (from at least 1988; first published by Conrad Stibbe in 1990); purchased from Palladion.
• an Attic black-figured Band Cup (L2023.004.001). Surfaced via Palladion Antike Kunst, Basel (from at least 1975 when it appeared in an advertisement in Apollo); Brian T. Aitken, Acanthus Gallery, New York.
• an Apulian volute-krater attributed to the Underworld painter (L2023.004.002). Surfaced in Galerie Hydra (Christian Boursaud), Geneva (by 1986); Pierre Sciclounoff (1926-1997), Geneva; purchased through Christoph Leon. 

Galerie Hydra is discussed in Peter Watson's, Sotheby's: Inside Story (1997). The Apulian krater appeared in: C. Aellen, A. Cambitoglou, and J. Chamay, Le Peintre de Darius et son Milieu: Vases grecs d'Italie méridionale (Hellas et Roma, vol. 4. Geneva: Association Hellas et Roma, 1986), 190–99 (Sciclounoff collection); A. D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily; A Handbook (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), 261, fig. 210.

Can we presume that the Minoan larnax, known from the Becchina dossier, will be transferred to Greece in the near future? And what about the other material handled by Palladion Antike Kunst? 

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Hecht and a calyx-krater attributed to the Achilles painter

Michael C. Carlos Museum inv. 2002.43.56

Among the donations made by Dietrich von Bothmer to the Michael C. Carlos Museum is a series of fragments from a calyx-krater attributed to the Achilles painter (BAPD 9036441). The museum's audio recording appears to suggest that the fragments came from a single pot. 

What is more interesting is to see how Bothmer acquired the fragments:

• Robert Hecht: 1984 / 9; 1988 / 2 
• Jonathan Rosen: 1984 / 1 
• Bruce McAlpine: 1989 / 4; 19**/1 
• Mario Bruno: 1984 / 1

In other words the first pieces of this fragmented krater surfaced through three different routes in 1984: Robert Hecht, Jonathan Rosen, and Mario Bruno. Hecht supplied further fragments in 1988, and Bruce McAlpine in 1989. The sources for the remaining fragments appear to be undeclared.

Where and when was the krater found? When was it fragmented and the pieces dispersed? 

How did the Carlos justify the acquisition of these fragments given what was known (in 2002) about the sources? Why does the Carlos present the fragmented krater as a series of fragments rather than acknowledging in the text of the website that they come from a single piece? 

What do these fragments tell us about Bothmer as a collector given that some of his material has been returned to Italy? 

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Becchina and the Michael C. Carlos Museum

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

An Attic marble funerary sculpture was acquired by the Michael C. Carlos Museum in 2023 from Michael Ward of New York (inv. 2003.005.001). The online catalogue entry indicates that the sculpture was derived from Gianfranco Becchina. 

We note that Ward is cited in the most recent set of returns (October 2023) by the Manhattan DA.

What is the documented history of the sculpture between 1970 and 2003? Has this 'gap' been explained by authenticated paperwork? What rigorous due diligence checks were conducted prior to acquisition? Will the Carlos release the documentation for this sculpture in the spirit of academic transparency?

Is it significant that this important sculpture is not on public display?

Becchina is one of the individuals who handled the Minoan larnax acquired by the Carlos in 2002.

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Bothmer, Almagià and the Michael C. Carlos Museum

Red-figured calyx-krater fragment
attributed to the Kleophrades painter.
Michael C. Carlos Museum inv. 2006.051.011B

I have noted that Dietrich von Bothmer acquired a fragment of a cup from Edoardo Almagià and then gave it to the J. Paul Getty Museum: the rest of the fragments were supplied by Galerie Nefer (D.W.J. Gill 2022. "Context Matters: Fragmented Athenian Cups." Journal of Art Crime 27: 77–84. ). 

A fragmentary calyx-krater attributed to the Kleophrades painter was presented to the Michael C. Carlos Museum by Bothmer in 2006. It is interpreted as showing the funeral mound of Hektor. Bothmer acquired the first fragment in July 1972, followed by further fragments in September 1978: the sources for these are unknown. However in 1978 another fragment was acquired from Bruce McNall of the Summa Galleries; this was followed by further fragments from Nikolas Koutoulakis in 1981, Edoardo Almagià in 1993, and Harry Bürki in 1994. 

This network of names would suggest that the origins of this krater deserve further investigation. Tsirogiannis and I will be exploring a parallel network, also including Bothmer, in a forthcoming article.

Incidentally, a fragmentary calyx-krater showing the funerary mound of Achilles (?), and compared by Bothmer to the Kleophrades painter, had resided in the private collection of Cornelius C. Vermeule (BAPD 3197). Both kraters seem to have surfaced around the same time.

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Two bronze hydriai: one from a Munich collection

L: Formerly Shelby White collection
R: Currently Michael C. Carlos Museum

Jasper Gaunt has drawn a parallel between a bronze hydria returned to Greece from the Shelby White collection and a second acquired by the Michael C. Carlos Museum from Robert Hecht in 2001. The second piece is reported to have once formed part of the collection of Doris Seebacher in Munich, Germany.

The authorities at the Carlos might like to consult the index of Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini, The Medici Conspiracy, in order to find out more about this 'collector'. 

Can the hydria's history be traced back to the period prior to 1970?

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Australian National University and Repatriated Antiquities

Attic black-figured amphora
Source: ANU

The Classics Department Museum at the Australian National Museum in Canberra appears to have agreed to pass the ownership of an Attic black-figured amphora (inv. 1984.02; BAPD 8244) and an Apulian fishplate (inv. 1984.04) to Italy. The pieces will be placed on loan to the museum for four years.

The amphora surfaced through Sotheby's in London in July 1984 (lot 314). I had raised concerned about the amphora some years ago due to the nature of the trademark cut onto the base.

The fishplate is reported to have been purchased from Holland Coins and Antiquities in the US, and removed from Italy by David Holland Swingler. Swingler has been linked to other antiquities.

There are continuing concerns about other figure-decorated pots acquired by or on loan to various museums in Australia. 

Bubon: More Returning Sculptures

Line drawing of part of the base in the Sebasteion at Bubon, Türkiye with portrait statues of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus at the appropriate positions. Note: the figures are not to scale.

Christopher Chippindale and I drew attention to the imperial bronzes associated with the Sebasteion at Bubon in Turkey back in 2000: discussion of this group can be traced back to the 1970s. The looting of this space seems to have taken place in the early 1960s. It now seems that the (headless) portrait of Marcus Aurelius as a philosopher will be returned from the Cleveland Museum of Art and will be reunited with the portrait of Lucius Verus from the Shelby White and Leon Levy collection: the pair were originally displayed, appropriately, next to each other. They will join the Lipson statue of Septimius Severus that was seized from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other pieces include the head of Caracalla that had been displayed at Fordham University. 

Elizabeth Marlowe ("Bronze Roman statue, believed to have been looted from Turkey, seized from Cleveland Museum of Art", The Art Newspaper 31 August 2023) has pointed out that Cleveland has played down both the identification with Marcus Aurelius and the association with Bubon. The same phenomenon is being played out with the bronze statue in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. The online entry now notes: 

It was associated throughout the 1970s and 1980s, by some scholars, with other bronzes that had been found near Bubon, Turkey. However, that opinion was ultimately disproved in 1993. The Houston sculpture was acquired in 1962; the excavations at Bubon commenced two years after, in 1964.

The start of the illicit activity at Bubon may well have preceded 1962 and the museum would be sensible to be cautious.

It appears that a portrait of a woman from the Worcester Art Museum (inv. 1966.67) has also been removed from display. It was reported to have been found 'in south-western Anatolia'. Andrew Oliver associated this find with Bubon. 

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Acquiring Antiquity at the Carlos Museum

Stephanie M. Lee has provided a detailed look at the way that the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University developed its collection of antiquities. It includes a discussion of the Minoan larnax that was first raised on LM back in 2008.

Lee, S. M. 2023. "The Little Museum’s Big Score: Emory University wanted only the finest antiquities. It didn’t ask a lot of questions." The Chronicle of Higher Education August 23, 2023.

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Fragments of the Sophilos Dinos

Detail of the Sophilos dinos © David Gill

The Sophilos dinos in the British Museum has been reconstructed from approximately 50 fragments. It was acquired in 1971 from the Honourable Robert Erskine. Brian Shefton knew of the dinos in 1962, and Paul Zanker noted in 1965 that the dinos resided in an English private collection.

Fragments of the dinos were placed on loan from the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1977/78 (and were deaccessioned in 1983): they had been acquired from from Max and Lynda Palevsky in 1976. The couple were the source of numerous figure-decorated fragments acquired by the Getty, including dinos fragments attributed to Kleophrades (and connected with fragments derived from Malcolm Wiener and Jonathan Rosen).

Two further fragments of the London Sophilos dinos were acquired in 1978 from Bruce McNall's Summa Galleries in Beverly Hills (1, 2). 

Where did the Palevskys acquired their Sophilos fragments? And what about the Summa Galleries? Were they from the same source? When did Erskine acquire his fragments? Did he acquire them from, say, a Paris based antiquities dealer? And did that same dealer supply fragments to the gallery in Beverly Hills?

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"A profoundly generous supporter of the Met"

The New York Times has reflected on the seizure of antiquities collected by Shelby White. There are informed comments from academics who research cultural property. 

Bowley and Mashberg commented:

For all the understanding of the ancient world that White had fostered, her ambitious collecting upset some archaeologists who thought it helped create a market that encouraged looting. When objects were wrenched from their original context, they complained, it undermined the very understanding of antiquity that she was trying to develop.

Patty Gerstenblith is quoted:

“If you pick a trustee whose financial generosity is the most important factor, then fine ... But should a trustee be a model of conduct when it pertains to the purpose of the museum itself? Her collecting practices do not fit the model of how a museum should be pursuing knowledge and preserving the historical record.”

Max Hollein, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and who is said to be championing a new spirit of transparency at the museum stated:

“Shelby White is a profoundly generous supporter of the Met ... and she has had an enormous impact at this museum and many other institutions."

This report by Bowley and Mashberg comes 23 years after the first analysis of the Shelby White and Leon Levy collection. 

When will the Icklingham Roman bronzes be returned to Suffolk (UK) so that they can be displayed in the county museum? What about the krater that was on loan to Houston Museum of Fine Arts?

There continue to be some unanswered questions.

• Bowley, G., and T. Mashberg. 2023. "At the Met, She Holds Court. At Home, She Held 71 Looted Antiquities." New York Times July 17, 2023.
• Chippindale, C., and D. W. J. Gill. 2000. "Material consequences of contemporary classical collecting." AJA 104: 463-511.  [DOI]
• Gill, D. W. J. 2023. "Context matters: Returns from the Shelby White Collection." Journal of Art Crime 29: 49–55.

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A pair of Nereids from an old Swiss collection

Two Nereids in the Louvre.
Source: Louvre

Two Apulian terracotta reliefs showing the Nereids were acquired by the Louvre in 1982 (CA 6823, CA 6824). They are alleged to have been derived from "une ancienne collection suisse" prior to 1939. However, the official museum website fails to mention this prior history.

What is key about these two Nereids is that they feature in the Becchina archive. Will the Louvre disclose the identity of the "old Swiss collection"? And what is the nature of the authenticated documentation that can demonstrate that the Nereids were known prior to 1939? 

Presumably this pair of terracottas form part of the Italian claims. Will the Louvre seek to be co-operative with the request?

What other items were acquired from Becchina or Palladion Antike Kunst?

I am grateful to Christos Tsirogiannis for advising me on the Becchina archive. The identifications were first made by Daniela Rizzo and Maurizio Pellegrini.

Besques, S. 1988. "Deux reliefs apuliens en terre cuite." Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot 69: 1–28.

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Two Funerary Statues from Cyrene Returned to Libya

Funerary sculpture from Cyrene
Source: Manhattan DA

The Manhattan DA has announced that two funerary statues from Cyrene have been handed over to the Libyan authorities ("D.A. Bragg Announces Return of Two Antiquities To The People of Libya", July 14, 2023). The statues were seized from a storage facility in New York where they had been placed by Robin Symes. It is reported that one of the statues may fit fragments found in recent excavations.

Other statues derived from the cemeteries of Cyrene include one from the Steinhardt collection, and another that had been placed on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another had passed through Dubai.

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Italy Seeks Return of Antiquities from the Louvre

Amphora attributed to the Berlin painter.
Source: The Louvre

The Italian authorities are seeking the return of seven antiquities from the Louvre (Roxana Azimi, "Italy calls on the Louvre to return seven of its archaeological objects", Le Monde July 13, 2023). The report draws attention to the Attic red-figured amphora that once formed part of the Hunt Collection (Wealth of the Ancient World no. 10). A further fragment from the amphora was supplied by Dietrich von Bothmer, and Robert Guy identified another piece that was presented to the Louvre in 1995 in honour of François Villard (Berlin Painter cat. no. 13; no. BN5; BAPD 8798). It should be noted that pots (and fragments) attributed to the Berlin painter have featured frequently in the returns to Italy. The identification of the Berlin painter amphora was made by Christos Tsirogiannis in 2006.

What are the other pieces likely to be? We know that the items were acquired between 1982 and 1998.

Possible candidates include:

a. Sicilian bell-krater attributed to the Lentini-Manfria group (CA 7249). Acq. Fritz Bürki (1986).

b. Capuan bell-krater attributed to the Ixion painter (CA 7124). Purchase (1985).

c. Attic black-figured psykter-krater attributed to the manner of the Antimenes painter (MNE 938) (BAPD 26150). Purchase (1988).

The Attic and the Capuan kraters (b–c) have been identified from the Becchina archive. The identifications were  made by Daniela Rizzo and Maurizio Pellegrini.

• Rizzo, D., and M. Pellegrini. 2021. "The Italian Archaeological Heritage Abroad: Between Agreements, Debates and Indifference." In Stolen Heritage: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in the EU and the MENA Region, edited by A. Traviglia, L. Milano, C. Tonghini, and R. Giovanelli, Antichistica, vol. 29: 99–114. Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari.

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