Statuette of Tyche
Object or Group Name
Statuette of Tyche
Case Summary
The Getty Museum acquired this 2nd century Greek statuette of Tyche, the goddess of fortune, from the private collection of Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1996 for a price of USD $2,000,000.
The Fleischman's had acquired it from London dealer Robin Symes, who later told Italian authorities he had acquired it from the Paris dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis. But the original source, evidence showed, was the notorious Italian trafficker Giacomo Medici.
Photos of the recently looted sculpture were found in Medici's archives after his Swiss warehouse was raided in 1995. The raid led to an Italian investigation of the Getty's collecting practices by the Carabineri that led to criminal charges against True and a group of antiquities dealers she had extensive business dealings with.
When the Italian prosecutor Paolo Ferri questioned True about her dealings with Medici, the curator described a 1989 meeting with the dealer in a Swiss bank vault, where he had offered to "gift" her a vase fragment if the Getty agreed to acquire the Tyche.
The statuette was returned to Italy in 2007 as part of a group of 40 objects, including a marble trapezophoros showing two griffins attacking a fallen doe.
The Fleischman's had acquired it from London dealer Robin Symes, who later told Italian authorities he had acquired it from the Paris dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis. But the original source, evidence showed, was the notorious Italian trafficker Giacomo Medici.
Photos of the recently looted sculpture were found in Medici's archives after his Swiss warehouse was raided in 1995. The raid led to an Italian investigation of the Getty's collecting practices by the Carabineri that led to criminal charges against True and a group of antiquities dealers she had extensive business dealings with.
When the Italian prosecutor Paolo Ferri questioned True about her dealings with Medici, the curator described a 1989 meeting with the dealer in a Swiss bank vault, where he had offered to "gift" her a vase fragment if the Getty agreed to acquire the Tyche.
“He offered a bribe, basically,” True told the prosecutor. “The fragment was presented to me, that this was for me, if I wanted it personally . . .”
The testimony suggests that True knew the Tyche sculpture had come from Medici when she recommended the Getty acquire it from the Fleischmans years later.
Number of Objects
1
Object Type
Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines
Culture
Greek
Private Collector
Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman
Museum Name
J. Paul Getty Museum
Museum Accession Number
96.AA.49
Receiving Country
Italy
Sources
Getty and Italian Ministry of Culture Sign Agreement in Rome for the Return of Objects
http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/italy_getty_joint_statement_080107.html
Chasing Aphrodite (2011)
https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Aphrodite-Looted-Antiquities-Richest/dp/0151015015/
Documents
Images
Courtesy of Italian government
MOLA Contributor(s)
Jason Felch
Peer Reviewed By
Damien Huffer
Citation
“Statuette of Tyche,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed December 10, 2025, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/947.