Posted on 04/12/2008 1:57:14 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
ROME -- Italian police have recovered a rare statue of a Roman emperor who co-ruled alongside Marcus Aurelius and was known for his reluctance to sit for portraits.
Police said Friday that the marble head of Lucius Verus was the most spectacular find among more than a dozen looted ancient artifacts hidden in a boat garage near Rome.
The bearded visage of Lucius Verus is believed to have been secretly unearthed at a site in the Naples area and was probably destined for the international market, said Capt. Massimo Rossi of a special police unit that hunts down archaeological thieves.
Experts consider Lucius Verus' head a find of great scholarly value. Because of his desire to stay out of the limelight, there are only four other known portraits of him, Rossi said.
Lucius Verus co-ruled Rome from 161 until his death in 169 alongside the more powerful Marcus Aurelius, his adoptive brother.
Ceramic vases stolen from an Etruscan tomb in central Italy were also among the stash recovered last month in the port town of Fiumicino, near Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport. Police said they were traced to an antiquities dealer in the Italian capital.
No arrests have been made, but 13 people were being investigated for antiquities trafficking, Rossi said.
In a separate operation, Italy recovered a marble head depicting Faustina, the wife of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the predecessor and adoptive father of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius.
Faustina's portrait had been stolen in 1961 from an ancient theater in Minturno, south of Rome, and made its way to an American collector. The statue was returned by the collector through U.S. authorities after he realized it had been looted, Rossi said.
The two statues will be among items displayed April 24-June 19 in the Castel Sant-Angelo, Rome's ancient papal fortress.
Very cool. Glad they recovered the artworks, even if the thieves skate. Art theft is the only form of theft I’d be willing to consider the death penalty for - it’s not just theft, it’s cultural homicide.
I wonder if he would rather be remembered for something besides “resistance to sitting for portraits”?
The one on the left—isn’t that Mark Steyn? ;-)
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