The world’s most disputed antiquities: a top 5 list

by Melanie Renzulli on



New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that it would return 19 Egyptian antiquities that have lived at the museum for most of the last century. These artifacts, excavated from the 14th century B.C. tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut), include a sphinx bracelet, a small bronze dog, and a broad collar with beads, among other bits and pieces. Zahi Hawass, the former Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, argued for the artifacts’ return in November 2010, claiming that the artifacts had been removed from the tomb illegally in the 1920s. But, the instability in Egypt during and following that country’s revolution this year has delayed the repatriation of King Tut’s belongings.

One of the biggest arguments in the art world is the repatriation of objects, particularly antiquities. On one side of the debate are art scholars who feel that ancient objects should remain in the care of their current (usually Western) museums or locations. The other side argues that antiquities should be returned to the countries from which they were removed because they were taken during times of war and colonization or were stolen and sold through the highly lucrative art black market.

It’s true that a great many antiquities and works of art we enjoy at museums today may have been acquired through looting or other unsavory practices. Here are five of the most famous works of art that have been repatriated or are the focus of an ongoing battle for ownership.1) Elgin Marbles
Where are they now? The British Museum, London
Where were they? The Parthenon, Athens, Greece
The Elgin Marbles, pictured in the featured image above, are synonymous with the repatriation debate. Also known as the Parthenon Marbles, these remarkable marble carvings once fronted the Parthenon and other buildings on Athens‘ ancient Acropolis. They were removed – some say vandalized – by Lord Elgin, former Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in the late 18th century and sold in 1816 to London‘s British Museum, where they have lived ever since. Authorities in Greece have been trying for decades to have the marbles returned to Athens where they can be reunited with other Greek antiquities in the Acropolis Museum.

2) Obelisk of Aksum
Where is it now? Aksum, Ethiopia
Where was it? Rome, Italy
One of the first, high-profile repatriations of an antiquity was the return by Italy of the Obelisk of Aksum (or Axum) to Ethiopia. Pillaged by Mussolini’s troops in 1937, the 1,700-year old obelisk stood for years in the center of a traffic circle in Rome until 2005 when the government of Italy agreed to its return. The Obelisk of Aksum now resides with objects of a similar era at the Aksum World Heritage site in northern Ethiopia.

3) Objects from King Tut’s Tomb
Where are they now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Where are they headed? Giza, Egypt
As described in the intro, these priceless objects from King Tut’s tomb are set to be returned to Egypt next week. Egypt plans to install these objects at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction and slated to open in 2012

4) Dea Morgantina (Aphrodite)
Where is it now? Aidone, Sicily
Where was it? Getty Museum, Los Angeles
The investigative reporting of two L.A. Times journalists was responsible for the recent repatriation of the Dea Morgantina, an ancient Aphrodite sculpture that had been a prized possession of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World’s Richest Museum, which takes a look at the repatriation debate and the flourishing arts black market, led the Getty Museum to return the stolen statue to its rightful home. The Aphrodite was inaugurated at the Archeological Museum of Morgantina in Sicily in early May 2011.

5) Hattuşa Sphinx
Where is it now? Istanbul, Turkey
Where was it? Berlin, Germany
Just last week, an ancient sphinx returned home to Turkey after years spent in Berlin‘s Pergamon Museum. One of a pair of sphinxes that stood in the ancient Hittite capital of Hattuşa, the sphinx will be restored at the Istanbul Archeological Museum before being returned to its ancient home approximately 150 miles northeast of Ankara.

[Flickr image via telemax]

70s Pothead Aesthetics, Meet Austrian Art

by Pam Mandel on

“I am going to take you to see the ugliest church you have ever seen,” said Barbara. We’d been having a long lunch in her garden in the Graz suburb of Hitzendorf. The church was just a few kilometers away in the village of Thal, a place that has the dubious distinction of being Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home town. There were four of us, Barbara, her daughter Anna, my husband Julius, and me. We got into Anna’s car and about 20 minutes later, we parked next to a green temporary structure that had the words “Arnold Schwarzenegger Exhibit” stenciled on the windows in matching grass green.

A paved pathway led to the entrance to the chapel. Five bridesmaids in wine colored dresses stood in the doorway looking sticky and annoyed with the heat. A wedding party was ending; there were glasses of beer on a picnic table and kids running in circles. There was an odd vibe to the event; the Austrians stood at high tables set up on the church patio while the others – Czech, we surmised, after a survey of license plates – sat on benches under a sprawling chestnut tree. The bride and groom were nowhere to be seen, but a 1970 GTO with a spray of white roses on the hood awaited their getaway. Already, it was kind of a weird scene.

We slid past the bridesmaids who continued to glare towards the patio. The little side chapel was quite traditional; wooden pews and a somewhat austere altar, a crucifixion on the back wall. But the main church, well, it was as though Liberace had found Catholicism and liked it. It was like being inside an oyster, all irregular and curved and lavender and blue and pearly. Mirrors studded with Swarovski crystal reflected sunlight in to the body of church. The pews were sculpted plastic, the floor set with river rock. Overhead, stripes, lots and lots of stripes, and the altar? A series of thick glass panels. Vegas. I thought. Any minute, Sigfried and Roy will make a tiger appear from this altar.

Barbara was right, the place was a freaking eyesore.The church was a collaboration between the architect Manfred Fuchsbilder and the artist Ernst Fuchs. Fuchs, the child of a Jewish father and Christian mother, survived WWII through a loophole – by filing for divorce, Fuchs’ mother was able to recover her son from a transit camp for “mixed race” children. Fuchs’ father fled to Shanghai. Fuchs was baptized and raised a Christian in Vienna. He went on to study art and founded the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.

The Fuchs-Kirche, as it’s called locally, was built in the early 90s, but stylistically, it appeared to stand firmly in the pot-smoking late 60s or early 70s years of black light Grateful Dead posters and tie dye peasant skirts. To my California educated eyes, Fantastic Realism has a haze of purple smoke hanging over it.

Take the work of Arik Brauer, a musician, architect, and painter who has something of the Dutch master Bruegel about his work, but Bruegel after he’s smoked a bowl of the Santa Cruz’s finest weed. This isn’t to dismiss his art; I liked the exhibition of his paintings I saw in Vienna a few years back. But there’s no denying the psychedelic color or the landscapes that look like the ground might be moving.

There’s also the work of Friendensreich Hundertwasser. Hundertwasser was another “mixed race” kid of pre-war Vienna, another survivor. In his art, Hundertwasser used fully saturated color, those same irregular surfaces I walked over in the Fuchs-Kirche, and a lot of highly glazed tile.

Seeing Hundertwasser’s work always left me feeling happy, a little off balance, and probably hungry, I don’t quite remember. His buildings suggest how Lego might behave if it was cuddly, with snap on onion domes and relaxed rectangles, all in bright colors with fat outlines. The Hundertwasser Museum is one of my favorite places in Vienna, not just because it houses his art – and that of his artistic soul mates – but because the building itself is a joyful mess of stacked color and shape. It laughs out loud around the neighbor buildings who don’t understand what’s so funny – expect for the Hundertwasser house, nearby, she might have baked the brownies and is totally in on the joke.

On a rainy day in July, with a car full of Austrian in-laws, I made another trip to another weird site in Austria, this one designed by Andre Heller. Heller, a Viennese Jew, was born post war to more privilege than his artistic predecessors. But he seems to have picked up the aesthetic created by the Fantastic Realists and dragged it firmly into, oh, let’s say 1978, a few years after Dark Side of the Moon was released.

Heller’s not responsible for the entire stoner feel of Swarovski’s Kristalwelt, a museum/garden/shopping extravaganza near Innsbruck. He’s just on the hook for the parts that made me wonder exactly how much laser Floyd he’d watched. He created the mirror lined dome which surely needs a warning for those with a tendency towards migraines. He also engineered an enormous button accordion that breathes in and out. Brian Eno created some – not all – of the ambient sound in Kristalwelt, but that doesn’t help modernize it, it just makes me wonder who left the Zeppelin vinyl in the car on a hot day.

I couldn’t wait to get out of Kristalwelt and back into the pouring rain. I wanted an espresso and some fresh air. The crush of the crowd, the constantly changing light, and the aggressive surreal weirdness of the place was freaking me out. This modern flavor of Fantastic Realism gave me a headache with none of the happy buzz I’d received from the more organic crops of the founding school. Everything was too hard, too sparkly, too blinky.

We drove for about 45 minutes before stopping at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant. With my belly full of food and the cover of a soft gray sky, the day became a lot more mellow. I slept it off in the car on the drive back home.

Pam Mandel’s transportation to Austria was provided by Austria Tourism. You’ve probably guessed that her opinions are very much her own.

Treasures of Teotihuacan go on display

by Sean McLachlan on


Teotihuacan is the New World’s most impressive city. Founded in the second century BC, it was a center of civilization for 800 years. Its Pyramid of the Sun has a greater volume than even the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt. Teotihuacan is located in modern Mexico just outside Mexico City. In a country filled with amazing ancient ruins, it’s one of the best.

An exhibit at Caixa Forum, one of Madrid’s leading art galleries, highlights the treasures of this civilization. Teotihuacan: Ciudad de los Dioses (Teotihuacan: City of the Gods) brings together some 400 artifacts and works of art to show the rise and fall of the city and its empire. The exhibition is divided into themed sections about the construction of the city, the arts, religion, palace life, and the mysterious destruction of Teotihuacan. Many of the objects displayed are beautiful, such as the inlaid jade masks and fearsome statues of the gods.

If you’re going to Mexico, I highly recommend that you visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site for yourself. I’ve been to a lot of ancient cities all over the world, but Teotihuacan simply blew me away.

Teotihuacan: Ciudad de los Dioses runs from July 27 until November 13.

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Russia celebrates 450th anniversary of St. Basil’s Cathedral

by Sean McLachlan on

It’s the most recognizable icon in Russia, reproduced on millions of postcards, books, and websites. St. Basil’s in Moscow is a colorful cathedral that’s celebrating its 450th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, the cathedral is opening an exhibition tomorrow dedicated to the mad holy man for whom the cathedral is named.

St. Basil lived during the time of Ivan the Terrible (reigned 1533-1584) and soon became a local celebrity by going naked even in winter and speaking out against the czar. For most people this would have led to a visit to one of Ivan’s overworked executioners, but mad saints have always been respected in Russian culture and Ivan was scared of Basil.

Basil was born a serf in 1468 or 1469 and developed a habit of going naked weighed down by chains. He was a bit of a Robin Hood figure, stealing from shops and giving his loot to the poor. He criticized Ivan the Terrible for killing thousands of innocent people and not giving enough money to the church. When he died, Ivan acted as pallbearer at his funeral.

Later, Ivan the Terrible built the cathedral in 1561 to celebrate defeating the Mongols. He decided to build it atop the grave of the Basil, in order to honor the man in death who had mocked him in life.

The cathedral has just finished a $14 million restoration in anticipation of the anniversary.

[Photo © by James G. Howes, 2009.]

Billions of dollars worth of treasure discovered in ancient temple in India

by Kraig Becker on

More than $22 billion in gold, gems, statues, and other treasure has been discovered in an ancient temple in southern India, prompting heated debate over what to do with the trove. Meanwhile, authorities scramble to secure the items in the short term, even as more riches are uncovered.

The artifacts were found inside the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, a popular Hindu shrine that was built in the 16th century and is maintained by the Travancore Royal Family. For hundreds of years pilgrims donated valuable items to the temple, most of which were secured away in vaults beneath the structure. Over the centuries, those vaults remained sealed, and an inventory of the items within was lost or forgotten. It is estimated that it has been more than 150 years since the vaults were last opened.

Recently, allegations of lax security at the temple prompted India’s Supreme Court to order an inspection of the vaults, resulting in the massive find. So far, five of the six vaults have been opened and inventoried, revealing chests of rare gold coins, statues of Hindu gods and goddesses, many encrusted in jewels, and other art work dating back as much as 500 years.

The discovery has made the temple one of the wealthiest in the world but has sparked a public debate over what to do with the treasure. The Travancore family insists that the treasure trove remain in their vaults, but there are many who think that the items should be shared with the world by putting them on permanent display in museums.

As tales of the incredible wealth located inside the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple spread, authorities were forced to increase the security detail at the site. Most believe that the $22 billion estimate is on the conservative end of the spectrum, and with one more vault yet to be opened, they don’t want to take any chances with thieves. The temple even installed metal detectors in the past few days to prevent anyone from slipping out with any of the riches.

No matter what is decided, it is likely to be some time before any of the treasures go on display. It will likely take weeks, or even months, to catalog and categorize all the items found in the vault and prepare them for display. Still, it sounds as if this is one very impressive find.