LIVIA – FOUND IN A NEW YORK ART CATALOGUE

One success story is the recovery of the head of the empress Livia in 2000 (Butrint Archaeological Museum, Inv. 9). The head is one of the original sculptures excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission from the theatre at Butrint and formed part of an imperial portrait group which, besides Livia, included the Emperor Augustus, Agrippa (his general in the battle against Mark Antony and Cleopatra) and a fine head of Apollo (the patron deity of Augustus). The latter is also traditionally known by the name of the ‘Goddess of Butrint’.

The portrait head of Livia was stolen in 1991 and was exported abroad for sale. By 1995 it had been purchased by a New York art dealer, and was offered for resale in a catalogue of antiquities entitled From a North American Collection of Ancient Art. All the items offered for sale were unprovenanced, though they were noted as belonging ‘to a collection formed over the last forty years’. It is not clear whether the head actually crossed the Atlantic; its eventual return was via Switzerland and it may have been secreted there.

L: he portrait head of Livia | M: Iris Pojani (Director of the International Centre for Albanian Archaeology) and Auron Tare (Director of the Butrint National Park) with the returned portrait head of Livia | R: Prof. Zachos (Ephor of Ioannina, Greece) and Albanian Minister of Culture Arta Dade with the returned head of the Large Herculaneum Woman (‘Grande Ercolanese’)

Dr Elizabeth Bartman, an independent scholar based in New York, who has made a study of portraits of Livia, recognized the head in the catalogue and wrote immediately to the Albanian Embassy in Washington. At about the same time the head was offered to the Glyptothek Museum in Munich. The Director of Antiquities, Raimond Wünsche, recognized the piece as being from Butrint and contacted the German police. On being informed that this was a stolen piece the art dealer withdrew it from the market.

With the authorities in two countries alerted, some action to facilitate the head’s recovery and return it to Albania might have been expected. In fact, very little occurred - the head was entered on Interpol’s list of stolen objects but the object itself remained in the dealer’s collection.

Matters might have stayed unchanged but for a series of chance encounters between Dr Elizabeth Bartman, Professor C. Brian Rose and Professor Jack Davis, which ensured that news of the location of the statue made its way to the Butrint Foundation’s Scientific Director Professor Richard Hodges. Under Professor Hodges’ direction action to recover the piece was championed by Dr Iris Pojani, Director of the International Centre for Albanian Archaeology and Auron Tare, head of the newly established local office for Butrint in Saranda.

Following some negotiation a generous offer to return the head was made by the art dealer and on 3 November 2000 Livia was returned to Tirana.

MISSING OBJECTS SEIZED IN GREECE
On 4th April 1991 the museum at Butrint was raided and several major sculptures stolen. The Albanian Institute of Archaeology alerted the Greek museum service and sent descriptions and photographs of the objects. As a result five of the sculptures were identified and seized from criminal gangs: (i) a portrait head of Agrippa (BAM inv. 583); (ii) a portrait head of a young woman (BAM inv. 50); (iii) the head from a statue in the type of the Large Herculaneum Woman (BAM inv. 584); (iv) a headless figure of Nike or young girl (BAM inv. 455); (v) a torso of Apollo (BAM inv. 4).

Dr Katerina Hadzis, a Greek archaeologist leading a project at Butrint, acted as an important link between the Greek authorities and the Albanian Institute of Archaeology in the early days after the seizure of the objects. With her help, members of the Institute of Archaeology were able to visit Greece and see the objects in safe storage. Initially the objects could not be released until criminal charges had been successfully completed against the gangs responsible for their illegal transportation. Prof. Muzafer Korkuti, Dr Ilir Gjipali and Prof. Neritan Ceka kept in close contact with the Greek authorities and, in turn, kept the Albanian Ministry of Culture informed. The Ministry played a crucial role in negotiating the return of the objects from 1998 onwards.

In July 2003 three of the five pieces - the three heads - were brought back to Albania by Professor Konstantinos Zachos, Ephor for the province of Ioannina. He was greeted by the Albanian Minister of Culture, Arta Dade, the Greek Ambassador and a large welcoming party of officials and archaeologists from the Anglo-Albanian research project.

Prof. Zachos had visited Albania for the first time a month before to take part in an international sculpture workshop organised by the Butrint Foundation. The workshop had included visits to the sites of Butrint and Phoenicê, together with the other great centres of sculpture such as Apollonia, Byllis and Durres. Prof. Zachos was delighted at being nominated to accompany the sculptures back to Albania on behalf of the Greek Minister of Culture Prof. Evangelos Venizelos.

The figures of Apollo and Nike are still being held as evidence in the criminal trials of the gangs who were transporting the objects. They are currently stored in the Piraeus Museum but it is hoped that they will be returned to Albania in the near future.