Over the weekend it was announced that Greek police had arrested two men trying to sell several artifacts near the town of Kavala, east of Thessaloniki (Kostas Kantouris Greek Police Arrest 2 With Valuable Antiquities, AP). The suspects were not named but identified as a 48-year-old Thessaloniki businessman and a 51-year-old farmer. The items seized from the suspects' car and homes include a 65-centimetre tall bronze sculpture apparently of Alexander the Great dated to the 4th century BC (see picture, pretty hideous stylistically if you ask me and an awfully suspicious patina). The asking price for this alone was 7 million euros. There were also other statues, the head of a first century BC bronze statue of a boy (priced at between 4-6 million euros), another young boy's head and the head of a statue of a young man (funny how there are so many just heads around), a stone relief of a woman, two bronze coins, 11 gold coins, and one silver coin. The couple were also selling two rare Qurans. Police believe that the seized artefacts had come from Turkey, though presumably the guys that buy the coins would not even ask. (Photo Greek police/Associated Press).
2 comments:
Obviously not C4th, but prob. Roman copy (size, and look of the thing). The archaeologists saying "Lysippos " are as silly as the antiquities smugglers asking 7 M euro for this rather low grade piece.
To be honest my impression on looking at the picture was that it was a much later piece. It has an odd 'patina' too.
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