Cleveland Art Museum Accused of Displaying Looted Ancient Roman Art

A New York judge ordered the seizure of a Roman sculpture on display at an Ohio museum, claiming the piece had been stolen from Turkey. 

The Cleveland Museum of Art has long said the sculpture, valued at $20 million, is believed to be a depiction of a headless Marcus Aurelius, the former Roman emperor, posing in a regal stance wearing elaborate drapes. But the museum has recently changed the characterization of the sculpture to a “draped male figure,” according to Cleveland.com. 

The outlet reviewed a copy of the warrant for the statue’s seizure, which was dated August 14 and signed by New York County Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz. She ordered the seizure within 10 days.

A spokesperson with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed to Cleveland.com that the statue has been seized. The spokesperson added that the statue was “trafficked through New York, pursuant to a conspiracy centered in New York.”

Matthew Bodganos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan DA’s office, declined to comment when the outlet reached out, citing “an active criminal investigation involving antiquities illegally removed from Turkiye and trafficked through New York.”

The sculpture has been in the museum’s possession since 1986. But Turkey’s government in 2012 released a list of nearly a dozen precious antiquities housed in the Cleveland Museum of Art that it says had been looted from the city of Bubon. At the time, Turkey’s government didn’t provide any evidence that the objects were stolen. 

A Turkish official who heads the country’s Combatting Illicit Trafficking Department in the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism told Cleveland.com that “significant new evidence has been developed proving that the Marcus Aurelius was stolen from Türkiye.”

The Cleveland Museum of Art “takes provenance issues very seriously and reviews claims to objects in the collection carefully and responsibly,” said Todd Mesek, chief marketing officer at the institution.