The Miho Museum: time to resolve its dispute with Italy?

Lord Renfrew has reminded us of the unresolved case of the antiquities in the Miho Museum. He mentioned the museum at several points through his Rome lecture and wove it into his closing words:

If the striking advances recently achieved by the Italian authorities in combating the illicit traffic in looted antiquities are to be of wide general, indeed international value, a number of steps will be necessary. The first of these could be the formal and published acceptance of the 1970 Rule by museums and then by private collectors in all countries.

The second should be the true internationalisation of such a position. That would include, for instance, the recognition by Japan of its obligations under the 1970 UNESCO Convention, and the equivalent recognition by the Trustees of the Miho Museum of their own responsibilities. I do not imply here that the Miho Museum is alone in flouting the conventions of good conduct in this respect, but it is certainly prominent. And here it should be remembered that many museums, even private museums, have charitable status in relation to taxation. That status should be questioned by national authorities if the institution is seen to be flouting either international law or the widely shared ethical standards implied by the UNESCO Convention. Only then can progress be made.

Details of the controversial acquisitions by the Miho Museum emerged in the Rome trial of Robert Hecht and Marion True in June 2007. The Italian prosecutors had images of a Roman marble oscilla. Although these are images that are likely to have been seized in the Geneva Freeport, there was a comparable dossier seized in Basel. Earlier reports have indicated that there are some 50 objects in the Miho Museum that are under investigation by the Italian authorities. (Other countries, including Iran, may also be looking at their collection.) There are also indications that some antiquities in the Miho Museum were supplied by Gianfranco Becchina.

The Miho Museum opened in 1997 with a list of high-profile guests including museum directors and private collectors. The collection of European antiquities was reportedly formed from 1990. One of the key figures was the dealer Noriyoshi Horiuchi who trained as lawyer but turned into an antiquities dealer under the guidance of Dr Elie Borowski (Souren Melikian, "A Splendid Art Collection Goes On Display in Japan", International Herald Tribune November 6, 1997). Horiuchi spoke about concerns relating to authenticity as well as "illegally excavated objects" (Rita Reif, "A Japanese vision of the ancient world", New York Times August 16, 1998):

"We bought only from major dealers ... And we invited museum curators, scholars, collectors, restorers and dealers to look at the collection and urged everyone to tell us of any problems they saw."

It would be interesting for the Miho Museum to declare the names of the major dealers who provided the antiquities for the collection.

The Miho Museum needs to find a reasonable resolution with the Italian authorities or it will continue to be perceived as a museum that does not hold an internationally recognised ethical standard for acquisitions.

In 2000 the Miho Museum returned a statue of a bodhisattva, purchased "legally through a reliable art dealer based in Switzerland", to China (Mari Yamaguchi, "Japanese museum investigating Chinese statue's history", AP April 20, 2000). Hiroaki Katayama, the chief curator at the Miho Museum was quoted:

we decided to investigate because we want to know the truth and serve our research purposes.

The Shinji Shumeikai, the sect linked to the Miho Museum's founder, has as its values the "pursuit of truth, virtue and beauty". Now is the time for the Miho Museum to investigate the Italian claims with rigour.

There is also a lesson for other museums that have been seeking to build up collections of antiquities in an age when the finite archaeological record has been under so much threat from looting and the illicit trade in antiquities.

Source: Looting Matters

Image
Composite of Roman marble oscilla in the Miho Museum that have no declared collecting histories.

Lead "Burrito" Sarcophagus Found Near Rome

Ancient coffin may hold a gladiator or a Christian dignitary, experts say.

The lead "burrito" sarcophagus, as it was found in a tomb outside Rome.

Photograph courtesy Jeffrey Becker

Christine Dell'Amore

National Geographic News

Published March 29, 2010

A 1,700-year-old sarcophagus found in an abandoned city near Rome could contain the body of a gladiator or a Christian dignitary, say archaeologists who are preparing to examine the coffin in the lab.

Found in a cement-capped pit in the ancient metropolis of Gabii, the coffin is unusual because it's made of lead—only a few hundred such Roman burials are known.

Even odder, the 800 pounds (362 kilograms) of lead fold over the corpse like a burrito, said Roman archaeologist Jeffrey Becker. Most lead sarcophagi look like "old-fashioned cracker boxes," molded into a rectangular shape with a lid, he said.

The coffin, which has been in storage since last year, is about to be moved to the American Academy in Rome for further testing.

But uncovering details about the person inside the lead coffin will be tricky. For starters, the undisturbed tomb contained no grave goods, offering few clues about the owner. (See more temple and tomb pictures.)

What's more, x-ray and CT scans—the preferred methods of coffin analysis—cannot penetrate the thick lead, leaving researchers pondering other, potentially dangerous ways to examine the remains inside.

"It's exciting as well as frustrating, because there are no known matches in the record," said Becker, managing director of the University of Michigan's Gabii Project.

Unlocking the lead coffin's secrets could ultimately offer new insights into a powerful civilization that has lain forgotten for centuries, he said.

Roman Ally's Mysterious Decline

The newfound sarcophagus was the "most surprising" discovery made in 2009 during the largest ever archaeological dig in Gabii. Becker and colleague Nicola Terrenato received funding for the ongoing project from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

Just 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Rome, Gabii was founded in the tenth century B.C., and it flourished for centuries alongside its growing neighbor, with which it shared a unique treaty of political friendship.

Walking through Gabii may have been a bit like a stroll through Rome, where the dense populace made the city crowded, noisy, and smoky in the daytime, and overall "unpleasant" to live in, Becker said.

However, by the second or third centuries A.D., Gabii had contracted dramatically, and by the ninth century it was no more.

The cause of the city's demise is unclear, but the "most obvious guess is that Rome's expanding power and territorial ambitions eventually eclipsed" Gabii, Becker said.

Lead Sarcophagus Holds "Somebody of Substance"

Mysteries about Gabii society make the newfound lead coffin especially intriguing.

Lead was a high-value metal at the time, so a full sarcophagus made out of the stuff "is a sure marker of somebody of some kind of substance," Becker said.

Past lead burials found throughout Europe have housed soldiers, elite members of the Christian church, and even female gladiators.

In fact, many lead coffins contain high-ranking women or adolescents instead of men, said Jenny Hall, a senior curator of Roman archaeology at the Museum of London, who was not involved in the new study.

However, the newfound sarcophagus' tentative age may make the gladiator scenario unlikely, said Bruce Hitchner, a visiting professor in classical archaeology at All Souls College at the U.K.'s University of Oxford.

The coffin dates back to the fourth or fifth centuries A.D., while the gladiator heyday was centuries earlier, said Hitchner, who was not part of the excavation team. (Related: "Ancient Gladiator Mosaic Found in Roman Villa.")

Coffin Had Unusual Downtown Location

What intrigues team leader Becker the most is the sarcophagus's placement—"smack dab" in the middle of a city block. A taboo against burying the dead inside city limits was deeply ingrained in the Roman religious mindset of the time, he said.

"I don't think it's, We're feeling lazy today, we're going to bury Uncle Joe in the tomato garden," Becker said. There may have been some major event that made people bury the body downtown—a possibility he intends to investigate during the next dig.

"As we seek to understand the life of the city, it's important for us to consider its end," Becker pointed out.

"To see someone who is at first glance a person of high social standing associated with later layers of the city ... opens a potentially new conversation about this urban twilight in central Italy."

Foot Bone Hints at "Extraordinary Preservation"

First, however, Becker's team hopes to find out more about the person inside the lead sarcophagus. The researchers' only hint so far is a small foot bone protruding through a hole in one end of the coffin.

Some lead burials have allowed for "extraordinary preservation" of human tissue and hair, Becker said, though the opening in the sarcophagus may mean that air has sped up decomposition of the body.

Still, early examinations reveal that the foot bone is "exceedingly" intact, Becker said: "Worst case, there's an exceptionally well-preserved human skeleton inside the wrapping."

Bones alone can tell scientists a lot about the person and his or her culture, said Bruno Frohlich, a forensic anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

"We put some kind of face to the bones—we make them alive in a way."

For instance, if the bones show evidence of diseases contracted long before death, that could mean the person survived an illness, and that Gabii society had the resources and knowledge to care for the sick, Frohlich said.

Lead Coffin too Dangerous to Open?

But Becker and his colleagues may not even get bones to work with, because the coffin may be too dangerous to open for both the living and the dead.

If the researchers decide to cut into the lead, cancer-causing lead dust could harm scientists, while exposure to bacteria could easily damage the corpse.

At the academy, a team will perform preliminary experiments on the sarcophagus, including an endoscopic exam that would feed a small fiber optic camera into the hole at the foot end.

If the experiments show that lead dust from cutting can be easily contained, the next step would be to find a "clean room"—similar to those NASA uses for experiments—in which to open the coffin, Becker said. (Related: "NASA 'Clean Rooms' Brimming With Bacteria.")

No matter who turns out to be inside the lead coffin, Becker is hopeful that the person wrapped in metal will turn out to be a window into history.

"To anybody with a passing interest in the human past, it's an exciting opportunity right there—to be able to say more about someone who lived and died at least 1,700 years ago.

Source: National Geographic News

Nero's Golden Palace ceiling collapses due to rain

A large section of the ceiling has collapsed at Roman Emperor Nero's famous 2000-year-old Golden Palace due to heavy winter rain.

Nick Pisa, in Rome
Published: 1:25PM BST 30 Mar 2010

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Firefighters carried out a search of the area but there were no reports of any people being trapped or injured in the collapse

Inside Nero's Golden Palace, the 'Domus Aurea' Photo: AP

Nero's Domus Aurea or Golden Palace has had a troubled history and has been opened and closed several times over the last few decades as restorers and structural engineers struggle to keep the mighty complex from collapsing.

In 2005 the palace was shut after masonry fell from flaking walls and a high level of dangerous seepage was detected, it reopened a few months later only to close again a short while later for further work to make it completely safe.

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Officials said that around 60 square metres (645 sq ft) of ceiling had collapsed and pictures taken above ground showed a huge hole in the ground with buckled metal fencing balancing precariously on the edge.

Firefighters carried out a search of the area but there were no reports of any people being trapped or injured in the collapse which follows months of unseasonably wet weather in Rome.

It was not immediately clear if the part of the ceiling that had collapsed was the same one that had fallen before.

Piero Melloni, a civil protection official who was at the scene, said: "It's obvious that the rain caused the collapse.

"It appears that a large part of the ceiling in the central vault has collapsed. We are working to make it safe and fire crews are checking to see if anyone is trapped but we don't think there is."

They were also joined from officials and archaeologists from the Italian Ministry of Culture who were also examining the area and Rome's centre right mayor Gianni Alemanno said: "I am very worried. I am keen to see what the archaeologists say."

The top of the Domus, which overlooks the Forum to one side and the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum to another, is covered with parks, trees and roads whose weight and polluting effect are a constant threat.

It was built after the great fire that destroyed Rome and historians believe that Nero allowed the fire to rage unchecked just so he could build his lavish palace.

After Nero's suicide in AD 68, the palace was stripped of its marble, jewels and ivory within a decade and it was later filled in and built over.

It was eventually rediscovered in the 15th Century after a local fell through the ground and into the remains of the structure.

Within days people were letting themselves down on ropes so they could admire the frescoes that remained among them artists Raphael and Michelangelo who carved their names on the walls.

Last September archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the famous rotating dining room of the Golden Palace a room which moved thanks to a complicated feat of Roman civil engineering that involved spheres underneath powered by canals of water.

Source: Telegraph

The Morgantina Treasure: Rome to display ancient Greek silverware

Rome to display ancient Greek silverware

Source: The Associated Press
Friday, March 19, 2010; 12:21 PM

A table ornament part of a collection of ancient Greek silverware dating to the third century B.C., on display in Rome, Friday, March 19, 2010, after being returned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The 16 pieces of silverware with gold detail, returned as part of Italy's aggressive campaign against illegal trafficking in antiquities, form one of the most important Hellenistic silverware collections to have survived from Sicily, according to Italian art officials. The pieces are known as "The Morgantina Treasure" after the name of the ancient Greek settlement where they were excavated, near what is now the Italian city of Aidone. Source: The University of Virginia Magazine.

ROME -- A collection of ancient Greek silverware dating to the third century B.C. is going on display in Rome after being returned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York, officials said Friday.

The 16 pieces of silverware with gold detail were returned as part of Italy's aggressive campaign against illegal trafficking in antiquities. They include two large bowls, a cup with two handles, plates and drinking utensils.

Italian art officials said the pieces form one of the most important Hellenistic silverware collections to have survived from Sicily. The pieces are known as "The Morgantina Treasure" after the name of the ancient Greek settlement where they were excavated, near what is now the Italian city of Aidone.

Angelo Bottini, the archaeology superintendent in Rome, said the objects were likely crafted by different artists and served different functions. Some, like the large bowls with mask-shaped feet, were likely used to mix wine with water during meals; others, like the plates, were likely used during ceremonies, officials said.

They will go on display at the Museo Nazionale Romano in the Italian capital from Saturday through May 23. The show then moves to Sicily.The pieces came back as part of a deal with the Met that also led to the return of the Euphronios Krater, a 6th-century B.C. painted vase that is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind.

Ancient Greek bowls from the Met’s collection, looted from Morgantina. Source:The University of Virginia Magazine.

Italy has been aggressively campaigned to recover antiquities it says were looted from the country and sold to museums worldwide. It has secured the return of dozens of Roman, Greek and Etruscan artifacts in deals with museums including the Met and California's J. Paul Getty Museum.

In exchange, Italian art officials have agreed to give long-term loans of equally significant treasures.

More info:

- Plunder. The theft of the Morgantina silver, The University of Virginia Magazine, Spring 2006.

See also:
Looting matters: Morgantina Hoard: on display in Rome