At a press conference today in Montreal, the recovery was announced of a bas-relief panel stolen September 3, 2011 from the Museum of Fine Arts in Montréal.
This had been exhibited as a 5th c. B.C. Sandstone (other sources say it's limestone) "Head of a Guard (fragment
of a low relief)" from Persepolis worth $1.2 million. It was recovered during a police raid on an Edmonton house almost 2,000 miles away. This action led to the arrest of a 33-year-old man who has been charged with possession of stolen goods. Officials in today's press conference indicated that the unnamed individual arrested had purchased the object for an amount significantly inferior to its actual value. [...] The investigation and subsequent arrest have not, as yet, led to the recovery of the second artifact, the 1st c. C.E.Yellow Numidian marble "Head of a Man", valued at $40,000 and reportedly stolen on October 26, 2011 nor the thief responsible for both thefts.The Achaemenid relief has been part of the permanent collection of the Montréal Museum since it "surfaced" about 1950.
Readers might remember that I have serious doubts about the authenticity of this relief on stylistic and formal grounds, now it is back in the Museum, it is an opportunity for someone to take a close look at it:
'Questions About Two Bearded Blokes: The Montreal Thefts' Thursday, 16 February 2012
Source:
Lynda Albertson, Catherine Schofield Sezgin, 'AXA Art Insurance, the Sûreté du Québec, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Announce the recovery of a rare and valuable Achaemenid Bas-Relief Stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2011' ARCA Blog February 13, 2014
Vignette: Recovered piece of carved stone.
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