The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, has announced in an official release, dated Dec. 5, that it has discontinued the exhibitions of 44 ancient artifacts and has returned the antiquities to their respective countries including Egypt, Italy, and Turkey.
This decision was made as per the findings of an investigation launched by the Office of Manhattan's District Attorney and by the US Department of Homeland Security, which spanned over half a year. According to the release, VMFA had been cooperative during the entirety of this endeavor.
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What Led to the Discovery of the 'Stolen Artifacts' in VMFA's Collection?
Back in May, the collecting institution in Virginia was notified that there was a chance that the 28 artifacts it was holding, at the time, might have been looted, stolen, or smuggled. In compliance, the museum submitted to the authorities all of the documents that were asked for, and consequently, it was discovered that there were an additional 29 objects that had suspicious "footprints."
In particular, the investigation of the DA's office escalated after "photographs related to sales receipts, invoices and bills of sale; shipping and storage records; import and export documents; consignment agreements; appraisal documentation; provenance and provenance research; catalogs, brochures, and marketing materials; and any correspondence" submitted by the VMFA was thoroughly inspected.
Progressing from there, the VMFA alone found another 4 objects that had questionable backgrounds, which collectively brought the total investigated antiquities to 61. Out of all of these, 44 objects were unquestionably declared as stolen, approximated to have entered the museum's trove, with over 50,000 items, around the '70s to '90s.
Before finding out about these 44 artifacts, Virginia's museum had returned six artworks since the year 2004, specifically repatriating art that was connected to the Indigenous North American Tlingit tribe as part of the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
Alex Nyerges, director and CEO of the Virginia institution, said: "The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts returns any works in its collection that are discovered to be unlawfully held. The museum takes seriously, and responds to, all restitution claims for works in our collection."
"This is not just our policy. It is the right thing to do. We fully support the decision to repatriate these forty-four works of ancient art," he added.
