2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The Board of Trustees has authorised SPK President Hermann Parzinger to return 25 objects from the Collection of Classical Antiquities in the Altes Museum to Italy. He signed an agreement to this effect today in the presence of Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth together with the Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano at a ceremony organised by Ambassador Armando Varricchio at the Italian Embassy. The voluntary restitution involves a complex of 21 Apulian vases and four other individual objects. In all cases, the SPK now assumes with a probability bordering on certainty that the pieces originate from looted excavations.

The restitution reflects the position paper of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in relation to antiquities, in which the archaeological collections commit themselves to a transparent handling of their holdings and to a critical examination of their provenance.

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth: "This restitution is another example of the effectiveness of cultural property protection in Germany and Europe. Today's restitution also shows what the protection of cultural property means in concrete terms: it is about protecting identity-forming cultural assets from looting and looting, theft, smuggling and illegal trade. Close co-operation at European and international level is particularly important in this respect. The cooperation between Germany and Italy is a prime example in this field - no other country has ever returned as many illegally traded cultural artefacts as Italy."
The Italian Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, explains: "The voluntary offer of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation to return 25 archaeological objects and the agreement on long-term loans from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) and the archaeological parks of Paestum and Velia have consolidated a tradition of cultural dialogue between Italy and Germany, rooted in a past of exchange and long artistic and literary experiences through which the two nations have built a common identity."

Mario Turetta, Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Culture, added: "The signing of the agreement with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is an example of cultural diplomacy and cooperation between the institutions of the two countries to value and protect our cultural heritage."

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, says: "We are convinced that it is right to return these objects. The Board of Trustees has also taken this view and I am delighted that we are able to bring this issue, which has been discussed with the Italian authorities for years, to a positive conclusion and intensify our cooperation with Italy. This kind of open, partnership-based cooperation with the exchange of knowledge and loans is a model for the future, especially in the field of antiquities."

Andreas Scholl, Director of the Collection of Classical Antiquities: "The Apulian vases have been a highlight of our exhibition for years. They will be replaced by long-term loans from various Italian museums. We have worked closely with our Italian colleagues to select objects that were previously not represented in our collections or were severely underrepresented."

It was agreed with the Italian Ministry of Culture and the National Archaeological Museums of Naples and Paestum that two painted slabs from Lucanian tombs depicting warriors and bronze protective weapons - armour and helmet - from the 4th century BC would initially be loaned to Berlin for several years. The objects illustrate the intensive, often warlike contacts between Greeks and indigenous Italic peoples in the south of the Apennine Peninsula at that time. The genre of paintings in particular is not represented at all in the holdings of the Berlin Collection of Classical Antiquities and enriches its holdings in an outstanding way.

Photos: www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html

The Apulian vases

The Apulian vases are 21 objects - craters, amphorae, a hydria, skyphoi and plates - from the 4th century BC, which the West Berlin Museum of Antiquities acquired in 1984 as a collection from the Swiss art trade and which bear the inventory numbers 1984.39 to 1984.59.

These clay vessels are made in the technique of red-figure vase painting, which developed in the late 6th century BC and was initially centred on Athens. In southern Italy, in what is now Apulia, they were widely used by immigrant Attic craftsmen from the 5th century onwards. In the following centuries, a unique style developed in the Gulf of Taranto and increasingly sophisticated vases were produced. Usually paired together, they are decorated with rich scenes from Greek mythology and depictions of tombs. The vases were used purely as grave furnishings and were often placed in rich tombs together with local ceramics. In the case of the artefacts from the Berlin complex, it is still not entirely clear where exactly they came from. The necropolis is probably located in the north of Apulia, where the indigenous Daunian people settled. The vases can be dated to around 340 BC and can be attributed to specific workshops in which some of the most important artists in the Greek world of the time worked. Archaeological research gives one of them the auxiliary name of Darius Painter.
The 21 objects were acquired in 1984 by the Antikenmuseum der Staatlichen Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz from the Basel art dealer Christoph F. Leon. At the time of purchase, a Cramer family in Geneva was named as the previous owner, who had owned the objects since 1889. An expert had also stated that he had known the objects since 1972.

Today, the SPK assumes that at least some of the Apulian vases originate from looted excavations. The first doubts about the provenance were raised around 1998. The Italian authorities had also been investigating the collection for several years. There is no legal basis for the return of the artefacts, as the dubious provenance information has not yet been clearly refuted or confirmed. Nevertheless, the SPK has decided to return the objects to Italy on the basis of the numerous indications available.

In the case of four volute craters, there are clear indications that they originate from looted excavations. Polaroid photos of these four craters were found in the Geneva office of the art dealer Giacomo Medici, on which they can be seen in fragmentary condition. The photos were probably taken after 1972 and it is now known that Medici traded extensively in cultural artefacts from looted excavations. The link between the four vases and Medici certainly speaks in favour of a connection with looted excavations for these four objects.

There is no comparable evidence for the remaining 17 objects. However, it can be assumed that they were also looted, as they probably come from the same burial context. For a long time there were doubts about this. Although similarities in chronology, iconography and style spoke in favour of this, it seemed unlikely that so many vases could have been found in a single grave. However, more recent finds and research have provided several examples of this. The ancient city of Arpi in the north of Apulia, near the provincial capital of Foggia, is the most likely place of origin. This centre of the indigenous Daunian tribe has been subject to particularly intensive looting in recent decades.

Four further objects

Attic skyphos, inv. no. 1970.9

This fragmentary vessel was acquired in 1970 by the Geneva-based art dealer N. Koutoulakis. As is known today, he belonged to the circle around the art dealers and fences Giacomo Medici and Robert Hecht, who demonstrably dealt in looted artefacts. There is a statement in the correspondence which, with today's knowledge, can be interpreted as referring to looted artefacts. The skyphos was also the subject of an investigation by the Italian Carabinieri in connection with the preliminary proceedings against Giacomo Medici, Marion True, Robert Hecht and Robin Symes. However, there was never a request to return it to Italy.

Attic kylix, inv. no. 1980.7

The kylix (bowl) was acquired in 1980 by the art dealer Robin Symes, who also belonged to the network of dealers around Giacomo Medici. During the investigation against Medici, a photograph of the vessel was confiscated alongside other photographs and antiquities from the art dealer's possession in Geneva in a room that he used to store illegally exported objects. The photos showed freshly excavated objects that had not been cleaned or restored. In view of the fact that a photo of the kylix was found in this storage room belonging to Giacomo Medici, there is a very high probability that the kylix came from an illegal excavation in Italy. Here too, however, there has never been a request from Italy to Berlin to return it.

Lucanian bell krater, inv. no. 1993.243

The vessel was acquired as a gift from the Brommer Collection in 1993. Frank Brommer was Professor of Classical Archaeology in Mainz; he made several donations to the Berlin Collection of Classical Antiquities. His scholarly notes list the objects' previous provenances, among other things. He acquired the bell krater from the Swiss dealer Francesco Italiano in the summer of 1980. However, this vessel is also one of the objects linked to Giacomo Medici and was the subject of an investigation by the Italian authorities into the art dealer. There is also a photo of this vessel in an unrestored state, which was confiscated from Medici in the storage room for illegally excavated objects. This also suggests a looted excavation.

Tondo with depiction of Venus and Cupid, inv. no. 2012.2

The fragment of a Roman wall painting of the so-called Fourth Pompeian Style from Boscoreale near Pompeii was offered to the Collection of Classical Antiquities as a donation in 2008. It had allegedly been in German family ownership for a long time. For the SPK, the prerequisite for acceptance was that the donation should not be accepted without the involvement of the Italian state, as the theft from the Antiquario Comunale di Pompeii in the 1950s seemed likely. The Italian Ministry of Culture suggested that the donation should be accepted and that measures for restitution to Italy should then be initiated. At the same time, it was pointed out that the Directorate of Antiquities at the Ministry would be forced to report the matter due to the legal situation. A donation agreement was subsequently concluded in July 2012, which contains a provision authorising the restitution to Italy. In the meantime, there have probably been investigations in Italy, but Italy has not taken the matter any further. The SPK is now concluding the process with the restitution agreement.

Position paper of the archaeological collections and
Research project Legal - Illegal?

In 2023, the archaeological collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin published a joint position paper in which they commit to the transparent handling of their archaeological holdings and a critical examination of their provenance. The collections preserve a stock of artefacts that is unique in its diversity and quantity worldwide. Their provenances will be scrutinised in greater depth over the next few years.

The position paper was the start of a joint research initiative by the museums. The aim is to determine the path of all archaeological collections from their discovery to their arrival in the museums. This contributes to a deeper understanding not only of the objects, but also of the museums' acquisition policies and institutional history. When assessing the provenance of archaeological objects today, political, legal and economic circumstances as well as ethical considerations are taken into account. Research and evaluation also takes current external perspectives into account: The museums work with partners and institutions from the countries of origin, with national and international civil society and the scientific community.

The project "Legal - Illegal?", funded by the German Centre for Lost Cultural Property (DZK), has been running since March 2023 and is investigating the circumstances surrounding the excavation and export of archaeological objects in the Ottoman Empire to Berlin during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the first time, the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Islamic Art and the Museum of the Ancient Near East under the direction of the Central Archive of the National Museums in Berlin in cooperation with the Research Center for Anatolian Civilisations (ANAMED) at Koç University in Istanbul are investigating this using three selected excavation sites, Sam'al, Didyma and Samarra, as examples. The aim of the project is to develop a guideline with the help of an international panel of experts, in which problematic acquisition situations are defined and criteria and methods for researching collections from this context are named. The guidelines are intended to support national and international museums in the future in researching the provenance of their archaeological collections with regard to problematic excavation finds from the early 20th century.

• https://www.smb.museum/nachrichten/detail/neue-ansaetze-zur-aufarbeitung-der-provenienzen-der-archaeologischen-sammlungen/
• https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/zentralarchiv/forschung/provenienzforschung/legal-illegal/
• Press release in Italian (PDF, 54.1 KB)