Greek drama in Rome

The story about illicit trade in antiquities reads like a crime novel.

Where does the Euphronios Krater belong?

Currently the former curator at the Getty Museum is on trial in Rome for aiding and abetting the illegal trade in antiquities and acting as a dealer. At the same time the Italian and Greek governments are busy trying to recover some of the outstanding pieces that were illegally excavated in the end of the 20th century, pieces that have adorned exhibitions in American and European otherwise well-reputed museums. The list of museums that have tried actively to avoid relinquishing their ill begotten masterpieces to the rightful owners is a sorry sight.

Two books on the shady business of antiquity trade
The Getty Museum heads the list. For a long time Getty’s nickname among the dealers was “the museum of tombaroli” (Museum of grave robbers). Other museums involved are The Met which last year accepted the demands from the Italian government concerning one of the most famous and exquisite pieces of stolen goods, the “Euphronios Krater”. The ownership of other magnificent pieces is currently being negotiated. Two recent books present us with interesting insights in the issues involved.

The Medici Conspiracy
The book with the subtitle “The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities from Italy’s Tomb Raiders to the World’s Greatest Museums” reads like a detective novel. Here the otherwise secret mechanisms of this fishy trade are presented. In a final roundup we are informed that the turnover in this shady business since the 70’s has been approximately $ 500 million and that the number of looted tombs is more than 100.000! Besides this we meet a number of unpleasant characters whose lives are presented in detail. 

Who are the good guys?
But we also get a good introduction to all the problems that the illicit trade raises. On the one hand there are the archaeologists who want to know every little detail about the live-worlds our ancestors. They want to be sure that only legal and proper diggings take place. Then there are the art-historians. They love beautiful artefacts more than anything and don’t particularly care that the artefacts are presented as “culture out of context” in their exhibitions. They wish to enhance the status of their museum and its exhibitions at any cost. And then there are the governments. They wish to be able to secure the looted artefacts in order to exhibit them as part of their national treasure, and also to secure that the hordes of tourists keep floating their way.  

The story about “The Medici Conspiracy” presents these triangular interests in a very interesting way. The reader is however left in no doubt who the good guys are. The books takes sides with the archaeologists and the national treasures.

The Cultural Heritage Crusade 
This is not the point of view presented in another book by Jonathan Tokeley, former Jonathan Tokeley-Parry. He became famous in London in 199, when he was found guilty of illegal trading and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Nowadays he lives in North Devon and paints, but he has also written a fascinating book about his experiences as a dealer of Egyptian antiquities. Apart from the amusing and horrendous stories about Egyptian officials he uses the book to point out that the archaeologists may have the law on their side, however, morally their point of view is not defensible. Leaving the antiquities to licensed diggers opens up for corruption among the license-givers. That was his experience in Egypt. Secondly it is not in any sense clear that the antiquities found in the soil of a specific nation belong to this nation. Why not to humanity as such? Why do we internationally accept that modern nations may monopolise the art that is buried in their soil, just because they happen to be located on the same fertile ground as an antique (Egyptian) society, otherwise not related to the modern (Islamic) society? This is what the author means by “heritage crusade”. Further he asks why the love of heritage is more acceptable than the love of art per se.

Two solutions
Each book is captivating because they read as detective novels. They are also fascinating because they present us with two different solutions to legalising the trade in antiquities. According to Tokeley the owner of the land, for instance a peasant should be allowed to own the antiquities found on his soil. He should be allowed to capitalise on it, but only if the antiquities found were sanctioned by an official archaeologist working as overseer. This would bring art to the surface to the joy of the collector, the peasants would make a living, the illegal trade would disappear and the archaeologists would not be hindered in their work.

Auction houses, museums and laws at fault
Watson and Todeschini have another proposition. According to them, the major auction houses should cease to sell antiquities of doubtful origin and museums should not acquire or exhibit artefacts, where their provenance is not valid. Museums also should not accept private collections at face value, because they are nothing but intermediaries between the looters and the museums. All information about the shopping done by museums should be revealed in compulsory yearbooks (no commercial secrets here). Laws ought to be regulated, as in England where landowners are obliged to present their finds to the government. If the state does not whish to acquire the findings, they may be put up for public sale.

Landowners and archaelogists
All in all both the prosecutor and the counsel for the defence seem to agree on one thing: The rights of the owner of the land should be respected and serious archaeologists should be given space to dig.

Books
Tokeley, Jonathan: Rescuing the Past. The Cultural Heritage Crusade. Imprint-academic.com 2006
Watson, Peter and Cecilia Todeschini: The Medici Conspiracy. The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities from Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museums. Public Affairs, New York 2006.

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