The Manhattan district attorney’s office has seized 27 artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Officials said the items were looted from their countries of origin.
In total, the Italian and Egyptian artifacts seized from the Met are worth approximately $13 million, according to the New York Times.Â
“We have two repatriation ceremonies next week, one with Italy and one with Egypt,” a spokesperson for district attorney Alvin Bragg told CNN.
“58 objects will go back to Italy, 21 from the Met. 16 to Egypt, six from the Met.”
The seizures are part of the office’s ongoing attempts to repatriate trafficked antiquities. Search warrants obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detail some of the confiscated artifacts.
They include a statue of the Greek goddess Athena, as well as statues of the mythical Greek brothers Castor and Pollux. Among the seized artifacts are bronze helmets and pottery.
Artifacts to be returned to Italy and Egypt
“It should be no secret to collectors, art museums and auction houses that they may be in possession of pieces from known traffickers that were illegally looted,” Bragg said.
“The investigations conducted by my office have clearly exposed these networks and put into the public domain a wealth of information the art world can proactively use to return antiquities to where they rightfully belong.”
“Our investigations, which have led to the repatriation of nearly 2,000 objects, will continue,” he added.
Last month, the Met returned two sculptures from its collection to Nepal. Both works are expected to be displayed at the National Museum of Nepal, Kathmandu.Â
Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass has called on the British Museum to return the 2,200-year-old Rosetta Stone to Egypt.
The Getty Museum in LA is also returning a group of Orpheus sculptures that were illegally excavated to Italy. London’s Horniman Museum and Gardens has agreed to transfer the ownership of its Benin bronzes to Nigeria.
Images: Metropolitan Museum of Art
