Golden wreath comes back home.

[Amarantos]

In the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in Macedonia, Greece, will be placed on Friday the golden macedonian wreath that was returned to our country from the Getty Museum earlier in 2007. The Minister of Culture will bring the wreath as "gift" on the occasion of his visit to the city.

The golden wreath, which had been stolen by Greece, was repatriated on March 22, 2007. Until then it was found in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

Unknown is if it will remain in Thessaloniki or if it is going to be transported to the Archaeological Museum of Amfipolis ,Serres, in the region that is to say where it was found initially. A number of letters and questions in the Parliament has in any case proposed the argument of the return of the wreath in Serres.

The wreath is composed by big branches and stalks with myrtle leaves and flowers, certain of which maintain traces of the light blue and green enamel. It is a characteristic creation of the macedonian metalwork and is dated on the 4th century B.C. Similar wreaths have been found in excavations in Central Macedonia.

In the meanwhile, on Tuesday began by the Three-Member Court of Felony Appeals the trial of the Getty Museum's previous curator of antiquities, Marion True, accused for the theft of the golden wreath during the period between February 1992 and August 1993.



Στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης θα βρεθεί από την Παρασκευή το χρυσό μακεδονίτικο στεφάνι που επεστράφη στη χώρα μας από το Μουσείο Γκετί μέσα στο 2007. Το στεφάνι θα φέρει ως «δώρο» ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού, με την ευκαιρία της επίσκεψής του στην πόλη.

Το χρυσό στεφάνι, το οποίο είχε κλαπεί από την Ελλάδα, επαναπατρίστηκε στις 22 Μαρτίου 2007. Μέχρι τότε βρισκόταν στο Μουσείο Γκετί του Λος Αντζελες.

Αγνωστο παραμένει εάν θα παραμείνει στη Θεσσαλονίκη ή εάν θα μεταφερθεί στο αρχαιολογικό μουσείο της Αμφίπολης Σερρών, στην περιοχή δηλαδή που βρέθηκε αρχικά. Σειρά επιστολών και ερωτήσεων στη Βουλή έχει πάντως θέσει το θέμα της επιστροφής του στεφανιού στις Σέρρες.

Το στεφάνι απαρτίζεται από μεγάλα κλαδιά και μίσχους με φύλλα και άνθη μυρτιάς, ορισμένα από τα οποία διατηρούν ίχνη από γαλάζιο και πράσινο σμάλτο. Είναι χαρακτηριστικό δημιούργημα της μακεδονικής μεταλλοτεχνίας και χρονολογείται τον 4ο αιώνα π.Χ. Ανάλογα στεφάνια έχουν βρεθεί σε ανασκαφές στην κεντρική Μακεδονία.

Εν τω μεταξύ, την Τρίτη ξεκίνησε ενώπιον του Τριμελούς Εφετείου Κακουργημάτων η δίκη της πρώην εφόρου του Μουσείου Γκετί Μάριον Τρου, η οποία κατηγορείται για την κλοπή του χρυσού στεφανιού την περίοδο ανάμεσα στον Φεβρουάριο του 1992 και τον Αύγουστο του 1993.

news in.gr - Ôï ÷ñõóü ìáêåäïÃ*ßôéêï óôåöÜÃ*é óôï Ã�ñ÷áéïëïãéêü Ìïõóåßï ÈåóóáëïÃ*ßêçò




Golden wreath from the Museum of Pella, Macedonia, Greece.


Golden wreath (detail) from the Museum of Pella, Macedonia, Greece.

[Amarantos]

«Παραγράφεται» η αρχαιοκαπηλία...



Απαλλάσσεται, λόγω παραγραφής του αδικήματoς της υπεξαίρεσης η Μάριον Τρου, η οποία επρόκειτο να δικαστεί στο Τριμελές Εφετείο Κακουργημάτων για τη συμμετοχή της στην παράνομη αγορά από το Μουσείο Ζαν - Πολ Γκετί του μακεδονικού στεφανιού.

Το δικαστήριο δέχθηκε ότι το αδίκημα, το οποίο στις ΗΠΑ θεωρείται πλημμέλημα, έχει παραγραφεί εκεί περισσότερα από 10 χρόνια και έτσι η Τρου δεν θα δικαστεί γι αυτό επειδή είναι αλλοδαπή.

Η αποδοχή στηρίχθηκε στο γεγονός ότι το αδίκημα τελέστηκε στις ΗΠΑ, άρα η εκδίκαση της υπόθεσης πρέπει να γίνει σύμφωνα με τα όσα ισχύουν στο συγκεκριμένο κράτος.

Η νομοθεσία των ΗΠΑ είναι εξαιρετικά χαλαρή σε τέτοια ζητήματα. Θεωρεί την αγορά ή αποδοχή λαθραίων αρχαίων πλημμέλημα, ακόμη και αν κοστίζουν (όπως το χρυσό στεφάνι) 1,15 εκατ. δολάρια.

Στη χώρα μας ο χαρακτήρας της πράξης (πλημμεληματική ή κακουργηματική) καθορίζεται από την εμπορική αξία των αντικειμένων. Αν αυτή υπερβαίνει τα 150.000 ευρώ, η πράξη θεωρείται κακουργηματική.

Από την άλλη, η χώρα μας θα έπρεπε να είχε εντοπίσει και να είχε ζητήσει το χρυσό στεφάνι αν όχι το 1993, οπότε και το παρουσίασε το Γκετί, τουλάχιστον μέσα στην τριετία.

Μάλιστα, όπως αποκάλυψε πρόσφατα το «Εθνος», τα πειστήρια για την ελληνικότητά του κρύβονταν στα υπόγεια του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Θεσσαλονίκης, χωρίς τόσα χρόνια να έχουμε πάρει χαμπάρι!

Οπως δήλωσε στους «Τάιμς της Νέας Υόρκης» ο εισαγγελέας Χρίστος Κουμπής, η απόφαση πιθανώς και να ήταν διαφορετική αν το χρυσό στεφάνι δεν είχε επιστραφεί. Η ποινή που θα αντιμετώπιζε σε αυτή την περίπτωση η κ. Τρου θα ήταν μέχρι και 10 χρόνια φυλάκισης.

Πάντως, εξακολουθεί να είναι υπόδικος για τα 29 αντικείμενα μικρότερης αρχαιολογικής αξίας από το μακεδονικό στεφάνι, τα οποία είχε στη βίλα της στην Πάρο και δεν τα είχε δηλώσει στο ελληνικό δημόσιο.

v4.ethnos.gr - «Ã�áñáãñÜöåôáé» ç áñ÷áéïêáðçëßá... - ôå÷Ã*åò , ðïëéôéóìïò


Ex-Getty Curator Is Now on Trial in Greece

A former antiquities curator for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles went on trial yesterday in Athens on charges of conspiring to acquire an ancient gold funerary wreath that Greek officials say was illegally removed from Greek soil about 15 years ago. The former curator, Marion True, did not attend the hearing. Her lawyer, Yannis Yannides, submitted a motion for dismissal, citing a California state law that sets a three-year statute of limitations for prosecution once a stolen artifact’s whereabouts have been made known. (The Getty acquired the wreath in 1993 and agreed to return it nearly a year ago, citing concerns about its provenance.) Greek investigators assert that the gold wreath was illegally excavated from an archaeological site in the northern province of Macedonia. Ms. True is also on trial in Italy on charges of trafficking in stolen antiquities acquired for the Getty. She has denied wrongdoing in both cases. In a related development The Associated Press reported that a judge in Pesaro, Italy, yesterday dismissed a local prosecutor’s legal claim to a bronze statue of a youth that is in the Getty’s collection. (The statue has also been claimed by Italy’s national government.) After long negotiations, the museum agreed in August to return 40 other artifacts to Italy. Italy said it would consider whether to press its case on the bronze after the case in Pesaro was resolved.
ANTHEE CARASSAVA

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/ar...in&oref=slogin



Greek Court Dismisses Case Against Ex-Curator

Giorgos Nisiotis/Associated Press

A gold wreath at the center of a claim is now in a Greek museum.

By ANTHEE CARASSAVA

Published: November 28, 2007


ATHENS, Nov. 27 — An appeals court here dismissed a criminal case on Tuesday against Marion True, a former curator for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles who had been accused of conspiring to acquire an ancient gold wreath that Greece says was looted from its soil.

The unanimous decision by the three-member appeals court came eight months after the Getty formally handed over the disputed funerary wreath and a week after Ms. True’s lawyer filed a motion for dismissal.

In his motion the lawyer, Yannis Yannides, cited a California state law that sets a three-year statute of limitations for prosecutions once the whereabouts of a stolen artifact have been established. (The Getty bought the wreath in 1993 for $1.15 million.)

In dismissing the charges, the appeals court appeared to accept his argument that Greek law requires its courts to defer to the statute of limitations in the country where the acquisition was made known.

Mr. Yannides said: “The rule of law was applied. That’s all we wanted. That’s all we asked for. This may not be a legal triumph, but it brings significant closure to my client.�

Ms. True has been on trial since late 2005 in Italy on similar charges of conspiring to acquire illicitly excavated antiquities. She has denied the charges in both cases and did not attend Tuesday’s hearing here.

The threat of criminal prosecution has emerged as a crucial tool for archaeologically rich countries as they press American museums for the handover of artifacts acquired in recent decades.

Prosecutors in Italy and Greece have generally asserted that the criminal cases and the drive to reclaim objects are independent of each other. Still, they concede that their strategies are interrelated. Christos Koumbis, a state prosecutor, disclosed for the first time on Tuesday that he had recommended that the charges be dropped. If “the wreath had not been returned, then we may have decided differently,� he said in a brief interview. Greek Culture Ministry officials declined to comment on the outcome of the case.

In August the Getty agreed to return 40 ancient treasures to Italy after long and contentious negotiations. The criminal charges against Ms. True remain in effect there, although related civil charges were dropped in August.

The wreath is believed to have been unearthed about 15 years ago. Greece first laid claim to it in the mid-1990s, although its precise site of excavation was not yet known. Last year, however, its government sent the Getty a dossier of evidence, including documents and photographs, to support its claim that the wreath had been illegally removed from northern Greece and passed on to a market through Germany and Switzerland before being sold to the Getty in 1993 for $1.1 million.

The deal to return the wreath and a fourth-century B.C. kore, or statue of a young woman, was brokered last December. In July of last year, the Getty also acceded to Greece’s request that it return a large stele, or grave marker, it acquired in 1993 and a small marble relief bought by the museum’s founder, the oil magnate J. Paul Getty, in 1955.

Ms. True would have faced up to 10 years in prison if she had been tried and found guilty of receiving a stolen artifact. She still faces lesser charges related to at least 29 unregistered antiquities that were found in her summer villa on the Greek island of Paros during a police raid last year.

Her lawyers have said that the objects were there before she bought the property in 1996 and that the charges are a form of harassment.

Ms. True was the Getty’s chief antiquities curator from 1986 to 2005. She resigned the post in October 2005 over what the museum said was an impropriety related to the 1996 purchase of the villa on Paros.

The Los Angeles Times reported then that Ms. True had used a lawyer recommended by the London antiquities dealer Christo Michailidis to arrange a real estate loan for the house the previous year.

Under Getty policy, such a loan would have posed a conflict of interest, because he was a close associate of another dealer with whom the Getty did business.

Harry Stang, Ms. True’s lawyer in Los Angeles, said she was gratified by the appeals court’s decision on Tuesday. “She was pleased that the court ruled as it did on her Greek counselor’s motion,� he said. “She was fully prepared if necessary to defend the case on the merits.�

“While we’re all very pleased that the Greek law was properly applied with respect to the statute of limitations,� he added, “it also should be noted that at no time during these proceedings have the Greek prosecutors provided any evidence as to the existence of a crime.�

A spokesman for the Getty, Ron Hartwig, said the museum was “pleased that the charges against Marion True have been dismissed.�

The wreath is now on view in an archaeological museum in Salonika, Greece.

Randy Kennedy contributed reporting from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/ar....html?ref=arts

[Cadmus]

It's truly magnificent what a beautiful wreath...Is it from Amphipolis Bulgarian property?

[Flipper]

While I was in New York I saw many items comming from "private" collections. Imagine how many things have been stolen...

[Cadmus]

Flipper...there's alot stolen more then you can imagine , and it's still going on as we speek...it seems that once in a while whole truckloads of ancient items leave Fyrom to the abroad countries(most are germany/swiss/austria) markets to be illegaly sold on black markets.

Luckily Greece and Fyrom still have a lot of it underground!