Looted Treasure? Headless Statue Depicting Emperor-Philosopher Marcus Aurelius is Pitting Cleveland Museum of Art against Manhattan DA
A beheaded antique statue is pitting Manhattan DA office against the Cleveland Museum of Art.
An emperor-philosopher, a beheaded statue, a nation in search of looted treasures, a municipal DA office and an Art museum: all the ingredients of a fine political and judicial art drama.
The Cleveland Museum of Art on Thursday filed a court challenge in Federal District Court in Ohio, seeking to block a ‘seizure in place’ order from New York investigators from the Manhattan DA’s office.
The investigators allege that a headless antique bronze statue, valued at $20 million, was looted from Turkey in the 1960s.
In its suit, the museum calls the evidence presented by the investigators uncompelling. The museum disputes that the statue was even from Turkey and suggested that it really depicts a philosopher,
