A first-century marble bust from the early Roman Empire, believed stolen from an Italian museum decades ago, was officially returned to the Italian government on August 5, concluding a complex seven-year legal battle. The ancient sculpture's journey back to Italy began in early 2018 when the Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit seized it from Safani Gallery, a Manhattan-based antiquities dealer.
The seizure occurred after Italian law enforcement, likely the Carabinieri's specialized art crime unit, notified the DA's office about the stolen artifact. "Someone in Italy had seen that this gallery in New York had it," explained Leila Amineddoleh, a partner at Manhattan law firm Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, who represented the Italian government in subsequent litigation brought by the gallery seeking compensation for the seizure.
The marble sculpture, officially identified in court documents as the "Head of Alexander," represents a typical case of stolen cultural property making its way to New York City's active art trade market. Italian archaeologists originally excavated the bust in the early 1900s along Rome's Via Sacra, the historic thoroughfare connecting Capitoline Hill to the Colosseum. The artifact was initially placed in a local museum that was later absorbed by Rome's Capitoline Museum, though it was eventually listed as missing—"which really means stolen," Amineddoleh noted.
The bust's condition shows significant damage, with portions of the figure's head and nose missing. While valuable, Amineddoleh estimates its worth in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions of dollars. She also disputes the "Alexander" identification, though that remains the sculpture's assigned name. Despite its condition, the piece traveled extensively before reaching New York, passing through Rome, Cairo, London, and back to New York over several decades.
The artifact's commercial journey began in 1974 when it sold for £650 at what was then Sotheby Park Bernet auction house. It later sold for $92,500 at another auction before Safani Gallery purchased it for $150,000 in 2017. However, the gallery's advertisement for a 2018 art fair ultimately led to the bust's identification and subsequent claim by Italian authorities.
Italy's claim rested on the 1909 Code of Cultural and Landscape Heritage, which establishes state ownership of all archaeological objects discovered after 1909 unless the Ministry of Culture determines an object lacks cultural significance. This law became the foundation for Italy's successful repatriation effort despite the gallery's lengthy legal resistance.
Safani Gallery mounted multiple lawsuits to challenge the seizure and demand compensation, first targeting the Italian government and later the Italian Ministry of Culture for alleged unlawful taking. The gallery also claimed the Manhattan DA's office was improperly acting as an agent of the Italian government. All these legal challenges were ultimately dismissed, though the litigation process extended the repatriation timeline to seven years.
During the August 5 ceremony at Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, Italian representatives from both the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Command and the Italian consulate in New York received the Head of Alexander along with 30 other recovered artifacts. The Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit declined to comment on the repatriation.
Safani Gallery's legal representation came from David Schoen, a federal criminal defense attorney who notably served as one of former President Donald Trump's lawyers during his 2021 Senate impeachment trial. Schoen was unavailable for comment regarding the case's resolution.
Heritage sector experts suggest the extensive litigation may reflect broader frustration with the Manhattan DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit, which has seized cultural properties from dealers and museums nationwide, asserting New York's jurisdiction over objects pending court review. This aggressive approach has generated similar legal challenges from major institutions.
The Art Institute of Chicago currently disputes the unit's seizure of Egon Schiele's "Russian War Prisoner" (1916), which prosecutors claim was Nazi-looted from cabaret performer Fritz Grunbaum before being laundered through art dealers to New York. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Museum of Art previously fought the DA's attempt to seize an ancient Greek or Roman bronze torso allegedly looted from Turkey, though that dispute was resolved in February with the sculpture's repatriation to Turkey following a final Cleveland exhibition.
