The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has repatriated five pieces of ancient Cretan armor to Greece, which were linked to an illegal excavation conducted over 60 years ago. The artifacts, dating to the late seventh century BCE, include two bronze helmets and three bronze mitrai, or protective lower abdominal guards.
One of the mitrai is decorated with horses, another with winged horses, and the third with sphinxes. Two of the three mitrai also bear ancient inscriptions. According to Greek authorities, these items were illicitly removed from Afrati in the Viannos area of Crete during an extensive excavation in 1964. It is believed the armor was originally deposited within an Archaic Greek sanctuary, where the Greek archaeological service later carried out rescue excavations in 1968 and 1969. The three mitrai were subsequently gifted to the Met Museum by the Norbert Schimmel Trust in 1989, as reported by the Greek Reporter.
The return of these five objects will allow for the reunification of works from the same archaeological context, given that comparable finds from the Crete excavation are now housed at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Lucian Simmons, the Met’s head of provenance, stated:“Our understanding of an object’s history is never static, and new evidence can reshape what we know, helping us reassess provenance, as in the case of these works. This is why sustained research and open dialogue with colleagues around the world are so important, allowing us to clarify the histories of objects and determine the most appropriate way forward.”
In addition to the armor, the Met is also returning three other artifacts to Greece: a Middle Helladic terracotta beak-spouted jug, a Hellenistic gold-and-garnet amphora pendant, and a Roman marble bust of a veiled man from the first half of the first century CE. The museum’s decision to return these additional works was informed by internal provenance research and investigations conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as they entered the collection via art dealers whose practices are now under question.
A repatriation ceremony was held on Monday, attended by Matthew Bogdanos, head of the Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, Ifigenia Kanara, Greek Consul General in New York, and Cate Dillon, US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Max Hollein, the Met’s director and chief executive, commented:“The Met deeply values its productive relationship with our colleagues in Greece, as we continue to work together to deepen the understanding of Greece’s art history and heritage. This spirit of engagement extends even further, including the upcoming Across Wine-Dark Seas, an exhibition which demonstrates the many ways our institutions can create new understandings and connections. The return of these objects reflects the careful inquiry that is integral to our responsibility as a museum and to the stewardship of our collections.”
These eight antiquities are part of 15 other objects being repatriated from the United States, according to Greece’s Culture Ministry, via the Greek Reporter. Since 2022, a total of 179 Greek antiquities have been repatriated through the efforts of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
We previously reported:
A 19th-century bronze sculpture, stolen from a French zoo in 1993, has been recovered in the U.S. and returned to the Musée de Picardie in Amiens.
Source: ARTnews
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