Septimius Severus

Septimius Severus

In March 2023, the Manhattan DA's office announced the seizure a life-sized bronze statue of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, dating to 225 C.E., from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was one of several antiquities repatriated to Türkiye that year as part of a sweeping investigation of the looting of the ancient site of Bubon.

The archaeological site of Bubon would have been one of the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of the 20th century had it not been plundered first. In May, 1967, Turkish authorities learned that local looters had illegally excavated several life sized bronze statues near the village of Ibecik, in southwest Türkiye. Archaeologists from the nearby Burdur museum conducted an emergency excavation and discovered the remains of a sebasteion, or temple complex, dedicated to the imperial cult, in which former Roman emperors were worshipped as gods. By the time authorities arrived, the bronze statues were missing, but left behind were their marble bases containing the names of 14 Roman emperors and empresses.

Villagers told Turkish archaeologist Jale Inan they had sold nine or 10 bronzes to a dealer for as much as 90,000 Turkish lira each, as well as many fragments, including heads, arms and legs. The Met's statue of Septimius Severus was likely among them, as his name was found on one of the bases.

Authorities now believe that dealer was likely Robert Hecht, the notorious American antiquities trafficker. The head of Septimius Severus is believed to be in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen, which acquired it from Hecht in 1970. The bronze body was smuggled to Switzerland by Hecht, according to Turkish authorities. Coin dealer Charles Lipson acquired the body in 1967 and donated it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where curator Cornelius Vermeule first identified it as Septimius Severus. It was then acquired by a private Swiss collector who loaned it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011, where it remained on display until it was seized in February, 2023.

Among the other Bubon objects seized by authorities were an eight foot tall bronze statue of Lucius Veres in the collection of Shelby White; a portrait head of Caracalla also at the Met; two bronze fragments at the Boston MFA; a headless statue of Marcus Aurelius from the Cleveland Museum; and a bronze portrait of a young woman from the Worcester Museum of Art.

The repatriated objects from Bubon now reside in the Antalya Archaeological Museum. Türkiye continues to pursue the return of others, including the head of Septimius Severus at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

1

Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines

Roman

unnamed "private Swiss collector"

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Boston Museum of Fine Art

Türkiye

Damien Huffer

Jason Felch