After eighty yearsa precious Roman mosaic depicting a couple of lovers it is finally Back in Italy. The work, dating back to the first century AD, was repatriated by Germany Thanks to the joint intervention of the Carabinieri Command for the protection of the cultural heritage and the Consulate General of Italy in Stuttgart.
The travertine paneldecorated with an endless erotic scene, had been probably taken from one Villa of the Vesuvian areaperhaps in the suburban territory of Pompeii. The mosaic ended up in the hands of a German citizen, who had received him as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain engaged in Italy during the Second World War.
A questionable gift, the result of an evident act of war spoliation. Only recently i descendants of the German owner they realized the truth value and the probable illegal origin of the find and, with a gesture of consciousness and responsibility, contacted the TPC nucleus of Rome to ask for the return.
The return and the official return
After the necessary checks on authenticity and origin, the mosaic was repatriated in 2023 through diplomatic shipment. Yesterday was officially delivered to the Pompei Archaeological Parkwith a ceremony that saw the participation of General Francesco Gargaro, head of the TPC carabinieri, and the director Gabriel Zuchtriegel. Pending further archaeometric studies, the work is currently exposed to the Pompeii antiquariumwhere the public can admire it.
The work, perhaps part of the pavement of a private bedroomtestifies not only the refined Roman artistic taste, but also the Open wounds of illegal trafficking of finds. His return represents a small but significant step towards the recovery of Italian cultural heritagetoo often violated in the conflicts of the past.
As Zuchtriegel recalled, every return of a stolen find is “A wound that closes“, An opportunity to return to the community what had been removed from it. An episode that once again highlights the value of the international collaborations and the importance of historical memoryagainst any form of undue appropriation of the past.
