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☆ Getty Museum Agrees to Return Ancient Bronze Head to Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Tom Mashberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles on Wednesday said it was returning an ancient bronze head to Turkey that it had purchased in 1971 from an antiquities dealer who sold other items to museums that were later found to have been looted. The museum said the decision was made “in light of new information” provided by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which asserts that the object was stolen in the 1960s from a heavily plundered Roman-era settlement in Turkey known as Bubon. Neither the museum nor investigators would describe the new information, but the office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has in recent years been investigating the looting of artifacts from Bubon and has pursued the return of a number of bronze objects that were held by American museums or private collectors. In one case, investigators seized a statue of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in another, a statue of the emperor Lucius Verus from the home of a philanthropist and Met trustee, Shelby White.

Persons: Septimius Severus, Lucius Verus, Shelby White Organizations: Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art Locations: Los Angeles, Turkey, Manhattan

☆ An ancient Egyptian book of spells to guide the dead in the afterlife was found buried with mummies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Archaeologists have uncovered a copy of the "Book of the Dead" in an ancient Egyptian cemetery. The document was used by Egyptian priests to guide the dead to the afterlife. AdvertisementAdvertisementArchaeologists excavating a 3,500-year-old cemetery have discovered an ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead" filled with spells to guide the deceased in the afterlife. A picture shows a sarcophagus found at the Tuna al-Gebel site, presented to journalists on October 15, 2023. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesThe find also uncovered rare canopic jars made of alabaster, used to store spiritually important organs during mummification, and "thousands" of amulets, per the statement.

Persons: —, Sara Cole, Gebel, Isa, Foy Scalf, Scalf, Lara Weiss, Roemer, John Taylor Organizations: Service, Antiquities Department, Paul Getty Museum, The New York Times, of Tourism, Antiquities, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, University of Chicago, Science, Pelizaeus Museum Locations: Egypt, Tuna, Kingdom, Germany, Sudan

☆ With Slashed Funding, British Museums Turn to Philanthropy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Although the National Portrait Gallery soon secured large grants from several donors, including some from the United States, it also had setbacks. In 2019, the museum turned down a $1.3 million donation from the Sackler family’s charitable arm. Although the National Portrait Gallery eventually raised enough for the renovation, it has struggled in other fund-raising drives. It is widely considered one of the most important portraits of a person of color in British art history. The trans-Atlantic collaboration was “hopefully a good blueprint” for other museums struggling to buy masterpieces, Hilliam added.

Persons: Ramos, Cullinan, ”, Joshua Reynolds’s “, Mai, Sarah Hilliam, Hilliam Organizations: Sackler, Purdue Pharma, Paul Getty Museum Locations: United States, London, Los Angeles

☆ Where Are Their Heads? Hordes of Ancient Statues Pose That Puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Graham Bowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This is clear in any gallery of Greek & Roman art.”Headless Bodies in Top-Shelf MuseumsMany heads were lost because of the wear and tear of time. But other, less innocent explanations for the legions of severed heads include looting and regime change. Ancient insurrectionists and invaders decapitated statues to undermine the authority of rulers who had erected images of themselves as symbols of dominion. “Every culture in the ancient world seems to do it,” said Rachel Kousser, professor of ancient art at the City University of New York. was decapitated by Kushite raiders in Egypt, who then defiantly buried the severed head beneath temple steps in the Kushite capital of Meroë, in modern Sudan.

Persons: ” Kenneth Lapatin, ”, Rachel Kousser, it’s, Emperor Augustus Organizations: Paul Getty Museum, City University of New, British Museum Locations: Los Angeles, “, City University of New York, Egypt, Meroë, Sudan

☆ Trove of 750 looted artifacts returned to Italy from disgraced British dealer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Some 750 looted archaeological treasures have been seized from the notorious British antiquities trader Robin Symes and returned to Italy after a decades-long fight for their return, the Carabinieri art police said on Wednesday. Some of the antiquities returned to Italy from London are seen on display at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The 750 repatriated items were seized from the disgraced British art dealer Robin Symes. He was often investigated but never charged for his alleged crimes despite countless attempts by Italy and Greece. The return of these 750 objects marks another success in Italy’s attempt to recover its stolen treasures.

Persons: Robin Symes, …, Remo Casilli, Symes, General Lorenzo d’Ascia, Reuters Symes, Marion True, True, Vincenzo Molinese, Gennaro Sangiuliano, ” Organizations: CNN, Carabinieri, Magna Graecia, Ministry of Culture, Castel, Reuters, Symes Ltd, Italian Judicial Authority, State, Paul Getty Museum, Castel Sant'Angelo Locations: Italy, Castel Sant’Angelo, Etruria, Magna, London, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, United Kingdom, British, Swiss, Greece, Castel, United States

☆ A purchase at a small town sale turned out to be a 'priceless' de Kooning painting stolen in 1985
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Monica Buchanan Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

On the morning of Nov. 29, 1985, a couple entered The University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona. Within minutes, "Woman-Ochre" — a painting by the Dutch-American artist Willem de Kooning — was gone. The University of Arizona Museum of ArtAmong Van Auker's purchase was a painting that hung behind the couple's bedroom door, he told CNBC. Badly damagedOnce the museum took possession of the painting, Miller said, the search was on to find a conservator with the expertise required to repair it. When the painting was returned, it was in "very poor condition," said Laura Rivers, associate paintings conservator for the J. Paul Getty Museum.

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