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The vase is regarded as the peak of Greek pottery. The artist Euphronios created the vase more than 2500 years ago with the famous scenes of the ancient world of the gods: Sarpedon, the son of Zeus and Europa, dies in the Battle of Troy. His body is carried away, accompanied by Hermes and two Trojan warriors. By using various shades of liquid clay, the artist managed to achieve an unprecedented anatomical precision in his representation of the body.
This is also a masterpiece with its combination of form and painting. The black paint on the base, the handle and the lower part of the vase are the frame for the lighter area of the picture - a further innovation in pottery and art. Unusually, both signed the vase, a sign that both artists must have been aware of the significance of their work.
A total of 27 vases painted by Euphronios have been preserved, but the 'Sarpedon Krater' is the only piece that is undamaged. When in 1972 the MET announced the acquisition of the masterpiece as "One of the greatest acquisitions in the Museum's entire 102-year history", there was a lot of speculation. Not had only the unique nature of the piece but also the record sum of one million dollars generated general excitement.
As the officials of the museum revealed neither the previous owner nor the identity of the trader, reporters, NYPD, FBI and the Italian Carabinieri declared the krater to be a 'Hot Pot' and began research.
In February 1973, only a few months after the MET announced the purchase of this unique piece, the Italian authorities were convinced that it had been smuggled illegally out of the country. The following investigations were classified as the 'Watergate of the Art Trade'.
The central figures and the greatest profit-takers from this deal were quickly established: The Swiss Robert E. Hecht, already declared persona not grata in Turkey for trading in stolen artefacts, offered the vase for sale to the then director of the museum, Thomas Hoving. A Lebanese trader is also reputed to have been involved whose family is said to have been in possession of the vase since 1920. In his memoirs, the director of the museum wrote later that he suspected at the time that the krater was a stolen art object. Despite his misgivings, he agreed to the sale.
Later it was possible to establish from his notes exactly how the vase came into the possession of the businessman Hecht. According to these notes, he received the vase from the Italian fence Giacomo Medici who had bought it directly from an illegal excavation. The sensational find was probably found in an Etruscan burial site to the north-west of Rome. The grave-robbers received only about 9000 dollars for it.
In 2004 Medici was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trading in stolen artworks. His Swiss colleague, Robert Hecht, has yet to be sentenced.
In February 2006 hat the MET officially signed a declaration of restitution for 21 artefacts claimed by Italy - including the 'Superstar' Sarpedon krater, which will be sent on its journey home on 15th January 2008. The New York Museum is to receive an artefact of similar value on loan. A 'list of wishes' has already been passed to Italy.
Italy's Minister for Culture, Rocco Buttiglione, at the signing of the declaration of restitution expressed his satisfaction at the deal. "Italy has won, the Met hasn't lost and what has benefited is culture," he said.
In this case Italy has proved that it is taking the protection of its cultural heritage seriously and is making a firm stand on plundering. The New York Museum has admitted to past mistakes in this case without losing face. It is, however, most strange that the director of the MET, Philipe de Montebello, has expressed regret about the more stringent international guidelines which will be giving more and more weight to claims such as this one by Italy. His concern that these guidelines will lead to a diminishing of the items in museums and the people of his country will be deprived of access to education and enlightenment is incomprehensible in view of the generous offer of long-term loans from Italy.
It is to be hoped that this case and that of the suit against Marion True, the former curator of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, will lead to an alteration in the handling of illegally traded antiquities. For even the Getty Museum, one of the largest and richest museums of the world is to return over 40 objects to Italy. Marion True had systematically increased the volume of items in the museums by purchasing on the black market, although she had herself publicly set standards concerning the sources of purchases for the Getty Museum. Now she has to face up to her own maxims: she is being charged in Italy together with Robert Hecht and other art traders with complicity in trading with stolen works of art.
Following the successful claims of Italy against the Getty Museum and the MET, further museums will have to take responsibility for their illegally acquired objects. The 'Hot Pot' could help to thaw the ice.
Links:
Metropolitan Museum: Sarpedon krater
Super Art Gems of New York City by Thomas Hoving
Wikipedia: Euphronios krater
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