Weary Herakles (Top Half)

Weary Herakles (Top Half)

The top half of this statue of Herakles first surfaced in 1981. The dealer offering the sculpture, Mohammad Yeganeh of Frankfurt, said it had belonged to his mother in Iran, who had acquired it around 1950 from a German dealer. He suggested the German dealer acquired it from a European private collection after World War II.

Yeganeh sold a half-interest share to the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the other half-interest share to New York antiquities collectors Leon Levy and Shelby White. The museum purchased it with funds donated by the couple's Jerome Levy Foundation. It was accessioned on 31 December, 1981 and went on display in April 1982.

In 1990, a scholar noted the similarity of the MFA sculpture – which shows the torso and head of Herakles – to the bottom half of a Herakles statue that had been excavated in 1980 in Perge, Turkey and held by the Antalya Museum, Turkey. Shortly thereafter, the Turkish government claimed ownership of the MFA sculpture and requested its return.

In 1992, casts were made of the two sculptures, and it was determined that they fit together and must have been cast as one sculpture. The MFA and Turkey began discussions regarding how the two pieces might be reunited. Several years later, in 2004, the remaining half-interest share was given by Shelby White to the Boston MFA. Discussions resumed regarding a resolution.

After delays, on September 22, 2011, the Republic of Turkey and the Museum of Fine Arts signed an agreement to transfer full ownership of the upper part of the sculpture back to Turkey to be reunited with the lower half and put on display.

1

Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines

Roman

Leon Levy and Shelby White

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

1981.783

Türkiye

Jason Felch

Damien Huffer