Sicily presses Met over Morgantina hoard

"We are severing all ties with foreign museums that continue to display or hold artifacts that have been illicitly smuggled out of Sicily, and we will no longer loan works to such institutions", a spokesman for the Sicilian branch of the Italian Ministry of Culture said in a news release.

The statement was made on the occasion of issuance of a series of postcards picturing illicitly procured Sicilian treasures in foreign museums including the so-called Morgantina hoard at the Metropolitan.

Sicilian officials claim the hoard of 3rd century A.D. silver was stolen by tomb robbers at Morgantina in Sicily in 1981, smuggled out of the country, and purchased by the Metropolitan in 1984 from a dealer in Paris for $2.74 million.

Read more here. A bit more background on this longrunnng dispute here.

Posted by David on July 17, 2004 12:24 PM