Head of Asclepius

Head of Asclepius

In May 2009, a Hellenistic head of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, was returned to Albania 18 years after it was stolen from the Butrint Archaeological Museum in southern Albania.

The sculpture was discovered in 1932 by Luigi Maria Ugolini, who led the Italian Archaeological Mission at Butrint during the excavation of the shrine of Asclepius. It is believed to depict the demigod Asclepius, who was killed by Zeus for his ability to bring the dead back to life. The head, which portrays an older man with curly hair and a beard, is also sometimes identified as Zeus. It was held in the on-site museum in Butrint until April 1991, when it was stolen along with numerous other works from the excavation.

In 2005, Italian Carabinieri discovered the sculpture in an unrelated raid on a private residence in Rome. The antiquities collector Massimo Rossi had purchased it at a Christie's auction in London in 1996. Between 2005 and 2007, Italian authorities confiscated the statue and ordered Christie's to turn over sale transaction records. The name of the collector who consigned the piece to Christie's has not been made public.

As Rossi purchased the sculpture legally, Albanian authorities purchased the sculpture from Rossi for its immediate return. In the midst of these negotiations, two former Albanian national football players, Lorik Cana and Igli Tare, also attempted to purchase the piece from Rossi in order to hand it over to Albania. Eventually, in 2009, the Albanian state reimbursed Rossi his purchase price of 20,000 euros for the return of the sculpture.

The head was repatriated in a ceremony held at the Albanian Embassy in Rome on May 18, 2009, and is now held at the National Museum of History in Tirana.

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Bust of Empress Livia

Three Roman Heads

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Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines

Greek

Christie, Manson & Woods

Massimo Rossi

Albania

Lisa Duffy-Zeballos

Michela Herbert