Veiled Head of a Lady

Veiled Head of a Lady

In February 2022, the Manhattan DA seized a sculpture of a veiled woman dating to 350 B.C.E from the Metropolitan Museum of Art based upon evidence it had been looted from Cyrene, an ancient Greek city in modern Libya. Investigators were able to pinpoint the specific tomb from which the item had most likely been taken, along with other items such as a "Bearded Bust of a Man" seized and repatriated at the same time. The likely tomb was located within the necropolis at Cyrene, near modern-day Shahhat, Libya.

The sculpture appeared on the international art market in 1997 showing “telltale signs of looting such as earth on the surface and new chips at the base and in the veil,” according to investigators. The sculpture was smuggled out of Libya and into Egypt by Emile Saad, according to the Manhattan DA. Saad was sentenced in 2000 in Egypt for antiquities trafficking before he died.

The sculpture was on loan from an anonymous private collector (represented by attorney Scott R. Wilson) who was the subject of an ongoing investigation into antiquities looted from the Middle East and North Africa. After the Manhatten District Attorney's office approached the Metropolitan Museum of Art with testimony from archaeological experts (including Dr. Morgan Belzic, a Cyrene expert), the museum cooperated and voluntarily returned the Veiled Lady and Bearded Bust of a Man.

1

Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines

Greek

Anonymous private collector

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Libya

Damien Huffer

Jason Felch