Crime: British Museum displays objects recovered after theft

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crime
British Museum displays objects recovered after theft

“Rediscovering Gems” is on view at the British Museum until June 15. photo

© Lucy North/PA Wire/dpa

The scandal shook the art world: around 2,000 objects had disappeared from the renowned British Museum in London. Now 357 artifacts have been recovered.

Around 2000 items were from the British Museum in London disappeared – the scandal shook the renowned institution. From today on, the world-famous museum is presenting the first recovered objects in a new exhibition. These are ten gemstones. They are featured in the “Rediscovering Gems” show alongside similar ancient Greek and Roman artifacts in the collection that were once used to seal documents and for decoration.

The case became known in the summer of 2023. At the time, the museum announced that around 2,000 objects were missing, stolen or damaged. An employee was fired and denies the allegations. The German museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned.

The head of the Greece and Rome department, Tom Harrison, told Britain’s PA news agency that it had been “very, very arduous” to get back 357 missing artifacts from six collectors so far. It is much more difficult than initially thought to find the items. However, dealers greatly supported the museum in its search for the objects, which were distributed all over the world. Numerous pieces were damaged beyond repair, leaving a net loss even if all the items were recovered, Harrison said.

Gemstone expert Claudia Wagner, who is also a lecturer at Oxford University, told PA the pieces were worn by very wealthy Romans and were found at the ancient sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. “Rediscovering Gems” is on view at the British Museum until June 15.

dpa

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