Bronze Bust Linked to Ancient Roman Emperor’s Daughter Seized by New York Authorities
In a recent twist of events, New York authorities have confiscated a bronze bust suspected to represent the daughter of an ancient Roman emperor. The artwork was taken from a museum in Massachusetts as part of an investigation into stolen antiquities from Turkey.
This seizure is part of an ongoing probe into a smuggling network responsible for trafficking objects looted from Bubon, a region in southwestern Turkey, through Manhattan. While the spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has not divulged further details of the investigation, it marks a significant development in the case.
The seized artifact, known as the “Portrait of a Lady,” had been acquired by the Worcester Art Museum in 1966, located approximately 40 miles west of Boston. Notably, this event follows the recent seizure of a statue believed to depict the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius from a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
According to officials from the Worcester Art Museum, the bronze bust dates back to A.D. 160-180 and is believed to be a life-sized representation of either a daughter of Marcus Aurelius or another Roman emperor, Septimius Severus. When the museum acquired the bust nearly sixty years ago, they had “limited information” about its historical background.
Matthias Waschek, the museum’s director, expressed gratitude for the new information obtained, emphasizing the evolving ethical standards within the museum community since the 1960s. The institution is now committed to managing its collection in alignment with modern ethical standards.
The “Portrait of a Lady” depicts a young woman with a contemplative expression, her hair meticulously styled in waves. Marcus Aurelius, who reigned as the Roman emperor from A.D. 161 to 180 and was renowned as a Stoic philosopher, authored the celebrated “Meditations” that have been studied for centuries. On the other hand, Septimius Severus ruled from A.D. 193 to 211 and pursued the transformation of the government into a military monarchy.
The controversy surrounding these artifacts began in 2012 when Turkey claimed that the Marcus Aurelius statue, among nearly two dozen other items in the Cleveland museum’s collection, had been looted from Bubon and other regions. At that time, museum officials argued that Turkey had not provided concrete evidence to substantiate the claims of looting.