Apulian Amphora Showing the Murder of Atreus

Apulian Amphora Showing the Murder of Atreus

This ornate red figure amphora (two-handled jar) is attributed to the Darius Painter, and likely was made in Apulia as trade ware. It shows several detailed scenes, the primary depicting the murder of Atreus, king of Mycenae. It is one of a several high-profile vessels attributed to the Darius Painter that were eventually repatriated from American collections.

The amphora first surfaced outside Italy in 1991 in the hands of Fritz Bürki and Son, Zurich. This father and son team of restorers often acted a fences for the American antiquities trafficker Robert Hecht and his New York dealership Atlantis Antiquities, which he co-owned with the collector Jonathan Rosen.

Later that same year, the Bürkis sold one half interest share in the amphora to Leon Levy and Shelby White of New York, and the other half-interest share to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The amphora was one of several objects from the MFA's collection that were identified in the Polaroid photographs of looted objects seized in police raids of Italian trafficker Giacomo Medici's warehouse in Geneva in 1995 and Hecht's Paris apartment in 2000.

After initially resisting calls to repatriate the works, the MFA initiated discussions with the Italian Culture Ministry in November 2005 regarding the looting allegations. The return of the amphora was complicated by its joint ownership with Shelby White. Early in 2006, White gave her remaining half-share in the amphora to the MFA.

On September 28, 2006, the MFA deaccessioned the amphora as part of the repatriation of 13 antiquities to Italy, and signed a MoU with the Italian Ministry of Culture to secure future loans. According to the terms of the agreement, the MFA pledged to inform the Italian authorities of future acquisitions, loans or donations of cultural objects of possible Italian origin.

1

Vessel – pots, amphorae, vases, kraters

Greek

Leon Levy and Shelby White

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

1991.437

Italy

MFA: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/149767

Damien Huffer

Lisa Duffy-Zeballos

Jason Felch