Fool me once? The Met returns another famous object.

In 2008, one of the most famous cases of illegal antiquities came to a close when the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City returned the Euphronius Krater to Italy. The ancient Greek ceramic wine vessel, beautifully painted and fired by the most famous ceramicists in ancient Greece, was the only complete example of the 27 vases known to have been painted by Euphronius. The Met acquired the krater in 1972 from an American antiquities dealer then living in Rome. But an investigation revealed the krater had been illegally removed from an Etruscan tomb in 1971. (The photo above of the Euphronius Krater is in the public domain).

Recently, the Met was served a warrant by investigators looking into another ancient Greek vase the Met had acquired this object at auction in 1989.

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Ancient Vase Seized From Met Museum on Suspicion It Was Looted

By Tom Mashberg

The New York Times

July 31, 2017