A mosaic panel on travertine slabs, depicting an erotic theme from the Roman era, was returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii on Tuesday, after being stolen by a Nazi German captain during the Second World War.
The artwork was repatriated from Germany through diplomatic channels, arranged by the Italian Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany, after having been returned from the heirs of the last owner, a deceased German citizen.
The owner had received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain, assigned to the military supply chain in Italy during the war.
The mosaic — dating between mid- to last century BC and the first century — is considered a work of “extraordinary cultural interest”, experts said.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and co-author of an essay dedicated to the returned work, said: “It is the moment when the theme of domestic love becomes an artistic subject.
“While the Hellenistic period, from the fourth to the first century BC, exulted the passion of mythological and heroic figures, now we see a new theme.”
The heirs of the mosaic’s last owner in Germany contacted the Carabinieri unit in Rome that is dedicated to protecting cultural heritage, which was in charge of the investigation, asking for information on how to return the mosaic to the Italian state.
Authorities carried out the necessary checks to establish its authenticity and provenance, and then worked to repatriate the mosaic in September 2023.
The collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii was also key, as it made it possible to trace it near the Mount Vesuvius volcano, despite the scarcity of data on the original context of its discovery, the Carabinieri said.
The panel was then assigned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, where, suitably catalogued, it will be protected and available for educational and research purposes.
“Today’s return is like healing an open wound,” Mr Zuchtriegel said, adding that the mosaic allows to reconstruct the story of that period, the first century AD, before Pompeii was destroyed by the Vesuvius eruption in AD 79.
The park’s director also highlighted how the return by the heirs of its owner signals an important change in “mentality”, as “the sense of possession (of stolen art) becomes a heavy burden”.
“We see that often in the many letters we receive from people who may have stolen just a stone, to bring home a piece of Pompeii,” Mr Zuchtriegel said.
He recalled the so-called “Pompeii curse,” which, according to a popular superstition, hits whoever steals artefacts in Pompeii.
The world-renowned legend suggests that those who steal finds from the ancient city of Pompeii will experience bad luck or misfortune. That has been fuelled over the years by several tourists who return stolen items, claiming they brought them bad luck and caused tragic events.
