Sicily: Culture and Conquest

© David Gill

The British Museum is currently showing a temporary exhibition, 'Sicily: Culture and Conquest'.

The accompanying catalogue by Dirk Booms and Peter Higgs (British Museum Press, 2016) does contain illustration and discussion of some material returned to Sicily. The pieces include:

• The Morgantina Treasure, returned from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (p. 24, fig. 7; p. 124, fig. 91). This had been acquired through Robert Hecht (and prior 'history'). 'The hoard was found by illicit treasure hunters in the 1970s in two pits beneath the floor of a house' (p. 124).
• The pair of Acrolithic statues, returned from the University of Virginia Art Museum at Charlottesville where they had been on loan from the Maurice Tempelsman collection (p. p. 68, fig. 49). They had previously been handled by Robin Symes. 'Thought to have been illicitly dug up in Building A in the sanctuary at San Francesco Bisconiti (sic.), the statues are likely to represent Demeter and Persephone' (p. 68).
• The 'Aphrodite' from Morgantina, returned from the J. Paul Getty Museum (p. 69, fig. 50)
• The Hades, returned from the J. Paul Getty Museum (p. 70, fig. 51). This had been acquired through Robin Symes and had formed part of the Tempelsman collection. 'reputedly discovered in the sanctuary at San Francesco Bisconti' (p. 71).

Morgantina Treasure. Source: MMA

Hades. Source: J. Paul Getty Museum

Acrolithic heads. Source: BBC

It is surprising that there is no mention of Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino's Chasing Aphrodite, or Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini's The Medici Conspiracy (or journal literature) that address some of the concerns relating to this Sicilian material. There does not appear to be reference to Dietrich von Bothmer's full publication of the silver hoard.

Head of Hades returns to Italy / La Testa Barbablù - RAINEWS

Terracotta Head of Hades to Return to Sicily

Head of Hades
Source: MiBACT 

Three years ago I reported that the J. Paul Getty Museum would be returning a terracotta head of Hades to Italy. It appears to be derived from a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone ("the decision to transfer this head is based on the discovery of four terracotta fragments found near Morgantina in Sicily, similar in style and medium to the Getty head").

The head will be handed over to the Italian authoroties in Los Angeles tomorrow (Friday, January 29, 2016) [press release]. It will then be displayed in the museum at Aidone next to the 'Aphrodite' from Morgantina (announced in 2007; returned in 2011).

The Getty has yet to issue a press statement, but for convenience here is the one from 2013.

The head itself had surfaced on the market via Robin Symes and had then formed part of the Maurice Tempelsman collection. (For the acquisition of the collection and Arthur Houghton's view, see here.)

Is this the time for the Getty to be releasing the full collecting history of other Tempelsman material?

And what about the 'Cleveland Victoria' in the Cleveland Museum of Art?

Cleveland Victoria

In 1984 the Cleveland Museum of Art acquired a bronze Victory with Cornucopia (CMA 1984.25). The figure featured in the 1988-89 exhibition, The God's Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, organized by Arielle P. Kozloff and David Gordon Mitten (no. 66). As I have noted elsewhere the Victory "traveled through the art market and conceivably found with" three other bronzes: a relief with two togate magistrates (no. 63; Getty 85.AB.109, "European Art Market, private collection, United States"), a Roma (no. 64; Getty 84.AB.671, "European Art Market"), and a Goddess, perhaps Venus (no. 65; Getty 84.AB.670, "European Art Market").

The magistrates came from the collection of Maurice Tempelsman who appears to have acquired pieces from the London (Europe) based Robin Symes.

In 2008 it was reported that the Victory was on a list under discussion with the Italian authorities. In November 2008 it was stated that a Cleveland committee would report on an investigation into the collecting history. As far as I know these findings have not been made public.

In the spirit of transparency, will the Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art be making the full collecting history of the Victory public? Did Cleveland purchase directly or indirectly from Symes? Which other pieces also passed through this source?

Sicily at the Getty

Head of Hades, about 400 - 300 B.C.
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum inv. 85.AD.105

The Getty has issued a list of the objects due to appear in its exhibition on Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome. [details]

The pieces from the Getty are (with some additional information supplied by me):

23. Incense Burner Supported by Nike. 86.AD.681. [no. 5] 'Restored from a number of fragments'. 'European Art Market'. [Which dealer?]

92. Head of Hades. From Morgantina. 85.AD.105. Formerly Robin Symes; Maurice Temepelsman. The head will be returning to Italy.

93. Head of goddess. 76.AD.34. Gift of Max Gerchik.

96. Footed dinos attributed to the Syleus Painter. 89.AE.73. [no. 5]. Attribution by J.R. Guy. 'Reconstructed from fragments'. 'European Art Market'. [Which dealer?]

98. Disk with a Head of Medusa (Oscillum). 71.AD.255.

106. Statuette of a woman with child. 71.AD.347

109. Statuette of a pig. 78.AD.346. Gift of David Collins.

117. Apulian Krater fragment attributed to the Black Fury Group. 86.AE.417. [no. 7] 'Walter and Molly Bareiss Collection'. [Bareiss no. 44, checklist no. 221] Attribution by A.D. Trendall.
 
119. Statuette of Odysseus under a ram. 79.AD.37. Gift of Lee Rizzuto.

121. Mixing Vessel with Odysseus under a ram. 96.AE.303. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 289.]

135. Comic Mask of a Satyr. 96.AD.305. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 291.]

142. Statuette of a Dancer Playing the Lyre. 73.AD.151

144. Sicilian Calyx krater attributed to the Group of Louvre K240. 96.AE.30. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 64.]

It is significant that the Head of Hades (no. 92) is included. But what collecting histories will be provided for nos. 23 and 96? And what about the sources for nos 121, 135, and 144? Or no. 93?

The exhibition appears to be including the Morgantina silver hoard now in Aidone.

Houghton on Tempelsman

Arthur Houghton prepared a short note on the acquisition of the Tempelsman collection for the J. Paul Getty Museum. It is quoted in its entirety in The Medici Conspiracy by Peter Watson and Celia Todeschini (p. 125):

The collection represents a selection of objects from a larger collection formed by Maurice Tempelsman, a diamond merchant resident in New York, over the past twenty-five years. The individual pieces come from a variety of sources, although the largest number were provided directly by, or were bought through, Robin Symes of London. All have been legally imported into the U.S. The collection is currently in the Museum.

Will Houghton be making a statement about his part in the acquisition? It appears that he was a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) at the time of writing the note.

See also Chasing Aphrodite.

The head from Morgantina: intellectual consequences

Source: J. Paul Getty Museum

The terracotta head from Sicily that the J. Paul Getty Museum is not without interest. The catalogue entry for the head indicate the problems of trying to interpret an object without archaeological context.

The blue beard had suggested that the head represented Zeus. However the context, the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, where fragments of hair were located suggest that the correct representation is more likely to be Hades. Cited parallels suggested associations with South Italy, and specifically Capua, rather than Sicily (although Sicily is mentioned as a possible place of creation).

The entry suggests "probably broken off from a statue", though we do not know when this took place.

The collecting history suggests that it appeared on the "European art market" (for which we know equals Robin Symes) and then passed to a "private collection, United States" (i.e. Maurice Tempelsman).

The head was acquired in 1985. The previous year it had been published by Cornelius C. Vermeule III in Catalogue of a collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities formed by a private collector in New York City during the past few decades (Cambridge, Mass., 1984), no. 11. This privately published catalogue also contained:

• the statue of Apollo returned to Italy (no. 8; "European art market; private collection, United States"); 
• the marble lekanis returned to Italy (no. 10; "European art market; private collection, United States");
• a bronze Etruscan statue of a youth (no. 14A; "European art market; private collection, United States"; = The Gods Delight [1988], no. 37, "Private collection, New York" and stated as unpublished);
• two bronze magistrates (no. 21; "European art market; private collection, United States"; = The Gods Delight [1988], no. 63; "Traveled through the art market and conceivably found with [64-66]"; 64 and 65 are also in the Getty, "European art market", "part of the same monument"; see here for link with Cleveland Museum of Art);
• a Roman bronze bust of a man (no. 22, "European art market; private collection, United States");
• the bust of L. Licinius Nepos (no. 23; "European art market; private collection, United States"); 
• the head of a balding man (no. 25; "European art market; private collection, United States");
• a head of a priest of saint (no. 26; "European art market; private collection, United States").

Will the Getty be publishing the complete collecting histories for all the items acquired from Maurice Tempelsman? Will the Cleveland Museum of Art be providing the full collecting history of the bronze Victoria?

It looks as if the returning head has opened yet another window on the world of collecting and museum acquisitions.

Bibliography
Walsh, J. 1986. "Acquisitions/1985." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 14: 173-286.

Getty returns terracotta head to Sicily

Head of Hades, about 400 - 300 B.C.
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum inv. 85.AD.105

The J. Paul Getty Museum has announced that it will be returning a fourth century BC terracotta head to Italy [press release]. The press release makes it clear that comparative material was found at Morgantina and that fragments from the hair were found in a sanctuary confirming its original location.

The press release tells us that the head was acquired in 1985. Daniel Ng and Jason Felch ("Getty Museum to return Hades terracotta head to Sicily", LA Times January 10, 2013) inform us that it was acquired from Maurice Tempelsman. The original source was Robin Symes. Why did the Getty omit this part of the collecting history?

This raises the question about other material in the Getty that was sourced from Robin Symes.

Official silence on Getty return

Fabio Isman has reported on the return of 150 marble fragments to Italy from the J. Paul Getty Museum ("Il Getty Museum restituisce la tomba di Ascoli Satriano: il ritorno dell'arte perduta", Il Messaggero November 17, 2012). The pieces apparently come from a tomb at Ascoli Satriano and appear to be associated with the marble sculptures returned to Italy in 2007 (D. Gill & C. Chippindale, ‘From Malibu to Rome: further developments on the return of antiquities’, International Journal of Cultural Property 14 (2007), 205-40). We had noted Arthur Haughton's comments about the pieces linking them to Giacomo Medici, Robert Hecht and Robin Symes. Medici had reportedly informed Haughton that the find-spot was "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 ..."

The pieces themselves were published by Cornelius C. Vermeule ("The God Apollo, a Ceremonial Table with Griffins, and a Votive Basin", The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 15 (1987), 27-34).

What were the pots attributed to the Darius painter? What information has been lost by the destruction of this tomb.

The Getty news centre is quiet. The Italian Ministry of Culture news centre is silent.

If Isman is right (and his sources are normally trustworthy), one is left wondering why this material has remained in the Getty since 2007. What is the untold story?

Getty Returns Fragments to Italy

Fabio Isman has drawn my attention to the return of some 150 fragments from the J. Paul Getty Museum. They are associated with pieces returned to Italy in 2007 and discussed by Chippindale and Gill. I hope to comment further later in the day, but it seems that the scale of the problem for the Getty is massive. This continues to raise issues about why museums were acquiring recently surfaced material. Who was taking the decisions to acquire the objects?

We look forward to hearing James Cuno's voice on the issues as it is topic that he has failed to address. Perhaps alongside Whose Muse? and Whose Culture? could be Whose Responsibility?

Looted Antiquities from Puglia on Display in Rome

Antiquities looted from Puglia have gone on display in a special exhibition, "Marble's Secret - Polychrome Marbles of Ascoli Satriano", at the Palazzo Massimo in Rome. The objects include a marble lekanis, and a marble group of two griffins attacking a fallen doe. Both had formed part of the Maurice Tempelsman collection in New York, and were acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1985. They have formed part of the returns to Italy.

The exhibition press release, "Tomb raiders' marbles feted in Rome" (January 5, 2010), notes that the pieces were looted from a tomb outside the ancient city of Ausculum, the modern Ascoli Satriano, in Puglia. Christopher Chippindale and I have noted elsewhere the links with Giacomo Medici, Robin Symes, and Robert Hecht. There were also reports that the tomb contained pots attributed to the Darius painter (works attributed to this pot-painter feature promiently in the returns to Italy).

The exhibition is a reminder how North American private collectors were buying recently-surfaced antiquities from Italy. 

The marble pieces will go on permanent display in the Museo Civico in Ascoli Satriano once the exhibition closes.

Further details
Gill, D. W. J., and C. Chippindale. 2007. "From Malibu to Rome: further developments on the return of antiquities." International Journal of Cultural Property 14: 205-40. [Abstract and link]

Homecomings: North American Private Collections

The exhibition of antiquities returned to Italy ("Nostoi: Capolavori ritrovati") now includes material from these four private North American collections:

• The Bunker Hunt collection (as part of the Shelby White collection)
• The Maurice Tempelsman collection
• The Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman collection
  
• The Shelby White collection

The exhibition serves as a reminder that private individuals, as much as public institutions, need to conduct a due diligence process when developing their private collections.

Homecomings: Additions to the Exhibition

Elisabetta Povoledo ("Tempelsman Sculptures Return to Italy", New York Times, February 26, 2008) has reported on the display of the acrolithic sculptures once owned by Maurice Tempelsman and previously on loan to the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville. They will be displayed alongside other ex-Tempelsman material in the "Nostoi" exhibition in Rome.

Povoledo also reports:

The [Tempelsman] statues ... arrived in Rome on Friday along with nine classical antiquities from the private collection of the New York philanthropist Shelby White that were ceded to Italy in January under a separate pact. Italy says Ms. White’s artifacts were also looted from Italian soil.

From Virginia to Sicily: update

The BBC has reported that the acroliths in the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville will be returned to Sicily in February 2008 ("Looted sculptures to be sent home", BBC, January 4, 2008). They are reported to have been looted from Aidone (Morgantina).

Malcolm Bell III is quoted:

The repatriation of the sculptures is especially appropriate and important as they can be put back in their original historical, cultural and religious context.

While it is true that they will be displayed in an appropriate setting, the physical context and the precise relationships between these acroliths and other items has been lost.

The BBC is surprisingly a little vague about the path from Sicily to Virginia:

What is not known is how the statues made their way from Sicily to Virginia.

It is thought that they made their way via the black market of looted antiquities to Switzerland before surfacing in London in 1980.

Reports say they were eventually handed to the University of Virginia's art museum by a New York philanthropist.

In fact the pathway has been widely reported (see "From Virginia to Sicily: more returning antiquities"):

The Viriginia sculptures are reported to have been looted from Morgantina in the 1970s (and said to have been seen in the boot of a car in 1979). They then surfaced in the hands of Robin Symes who sold them (in 1980) to Maurice Tempelsman (for a reported US$1 million).

The timing of this return coincides with the display of ex-Tempelsman items in a Rome exhibition which marks the return of antiquities from various North American collections.

Image from the BBC

Recovered Masterpieces: ex Tempelsman collection

Among the antiquities displayed in the Rome exhibition, "Nostoi: Capolavori ritrovati", are objects formerly residing in well-known North American museums and significant private collections.

These include part of the former Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman collection that had been sold or donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum. Three further pieces had once formed part of the Maurice Tempelsman collection. These include a pair of griffins attacking a doe that featured in the Rome trial against Robert Hecht (Elisabetta Povoledo, "Photographs of Getty Griffins Shown at Antiquities Trial in Rome", New York Times, June 1, 2006):

According to court documents, the Getty bought the griffins from the New York diamond magnate Maurice Tempelsman in 1985 in a deal totaling $6,486,004. The sale was handled through the London dealer Robin Symes, the documents indicate.

Hecht reported the find-spot for the two polychome pieces was from Orta Nova. Giacomo Medici is quoted as saying that the Apollo came from a nearby villa.

The Tempelsman pieces are (using the numbers from the exhibition handlist):

56. Two griffins attacking a fallen doe. Marble, polychrome. Ex Getty 85.AA.106. Bibl. Gill and Chippindale 2007, Appendix A, no. 3.

57. Lekanis. Marble, polychrome. Ex Getty 85.AA.107. Bibl. Gill and Chippindale 2007, Appendix A, no. 2.

66. Marble statue of Apollo. Ex Getty 85.AA.108. Bibl. Gill and Chippindale 2007, Appendix A, no. 1.

References
Gill, D. W. J., and C. Chippindale. 2007. "From Malibu to Rome: further developments on the return of antiquities." International Journal of Cultural Property 14: 205-40.

A lesson from Virginia

The report in The Cavalier Daily ("Behind the masks: The University must explain the mystery of the Morgantina masks", Tuesday September 4, 2007) concerning the announced returns - or are they? - from the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville raises some interesting questions.

Although the New York Times has linked the "masks" with the collector Maurice Tempelsman,

"The University Art Museum acknowledges that the masks are on loan from an anonymous donor and that an agreement exists between the museum and the unnamed donor that limits the loan to a period of five years, after which the museum can do with the masks what it sees fit."

Has the time come for museums to refuse to accept loans from donors who require that their identities remain anonymous? This is not the first time I have come across the phenomenon, and I doubt it will be the last.

The Virginia Return: could this have been anticipated?

The announcement of the return of antiquities from the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville could perhaps have been expected.

Back in June Elisabetta Povoledo ("Antiquities Trial Fixes on Collectors’ Role", New York Times, June 9, 2007) reported that as part of the True / Hecht trial in Rome:

"the prosecutors have clearly adopted a strategy of calling attention to collectors, especially well-heeled Americans, with the implicit message that every player in the global antiquities trade is within their sights."

So who are the North American collectors? Four examples were cited:

"the Texas oilmen Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt (who sold their artifacts at auction in 1990 after their fortunes collapsed); the New York diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman; the art philanthropist Lawrence Fleischman and his wife, Barbara; and the financier Leon Levy and his wife, Shelby White."

Barbara Fleischman responded to the claim in the NYT:

“It seems like anyone can accuse anyone of anything without any proof. We collected for the pure joy of the object.”

Povoledo continued that Fleischman "said that she and her husband, who died in 1997, never suspected that they might be buying anything less than legitimate."

But it looks as if there was proof. The appearance of Fleischman material in the Geneva Polaroids is likely to be part of the evidence. In any case the 40 antiquities about to be returned from the Getty to Italy include 13 antiquities formerly owned by the Fleischmans.

Former Tempelsman material is also in the list of antiquities to be returned from the Getty. Is the Virginia return an extension of that line of enquiry?

And where does it leave Shelby White?

From Virginia to Sicily: more returning antiquities

Elisabetta Povoledo has today reported on the return of two antiquities to Sicily from the University of Virginia Art Museum in Charlottesville ("Two Marble Sculptures to Return to Sicily", New York Times, September 1, 2007).

The two sixth-century BCE sculptures will be displayed in the archaeological museum at Aidone. They will be joined by other antiquities returning from North American collections: the "Morgantina" silver (now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), and an acrolitihic statue in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Viriginia sculptures are reported to have been looted from Morgantina in the 1970s (and said to have been seen in the boot of a car in 1979). They then surfaced in the hands of Robin Symes who sold them (in 1980) to Maurice Tempelsman (for a reported US$1 million).

Antiquities from the former Tempelsman collection form part of the agreement with the J. Paul Getty Museum. Symes has also been associated with many of the returning objects from North America - and indeed others which are still under investigation.

What other agreements can be expected in the coming months?