In Greece, an ancient object stolen from Olympia returned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York

Athens welcomed the restitution by the Metropolitan Museum of New York (MET) on Tuesday of an ancient bronze object stolen in the Olympia site in the 1930s, a repatriation which is part of the efforts of Greece to recover “His treasures”.

The director of Met Max Hollein returned to the Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni “A bronze griffin head dating from 650-625 BC which occupied an important place in the department of Greek and Roman antiquities” From the famous American museum, according to a ministerial statement. This object of 25.8 cm, which was part of the decor of a tripod-chaudron serving offerings to the gods, “Is an exceptional example of ancient Greek metallurgy”said the minister quoted in the press release.

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The object had been stolen in 1936 from the local museum of the famous Olympia site, in the Peloponnese (South), cradle of the Olympic Antiquity Games. He had then been sold by a Greek antique dealer to his American colleague Joseph Brummer before being bought by the financier and former vice-president of the Walter C. Baker which had bequeathed him, with other objects from his collection, at Met in 1971, said the ministry.

“It is a repatriation of one of the most emblematic objects of our collection” Ancient, said Max Hollein. Referring to an investigation carried out by the MET, he confirmed that the object “Had not legally left his country of origin, Greece”. Lina Mendoni recalled that Greece “Was one of the countries whose cultural treasures have been stolen and are the subject of illegal traffic”. “All antiques illegally removed from any country must regain their place of origin”she reaffirmed.

Greece had signed in 2022 an agreement with the MET for gradual repatriation in the next 25 years of 161 Bronze Age Antiquities belonging to the collection of the American billionaire and philanthrope Leonard Stern. Rich in ancient history, Greece has been fighting for decades for the repatriation of looted antiquities, in particular for the return of the marbles of the Parthenon, owned by the British Museum since the 19th century.