US returns to Italy an Attic skyphos purchased by the Toledo Museum of Art in 1982

An Attic skyphos (a drinking cup), purchased by the Toledo Museum of Art in 1982, will be returned from the United States to Italy: this concludes theprocess of ascertaining the provenance of the precious object, which the U.S. museum bought for $90,000 on the Geneva antiques market. In 2017, a forensic archaeologist, Christos Tsirogiannis, had raised doubts around the provenance of the work, depicting the return of Hephaestus from Olympus and dating back to the fifth century BC. Since the museum’s experts could not trace the provenance of the object with certainty, it was decided to return it to Italy: the Minister of Cultural Heritage agreed with the Toledo Museum of Art on a four-year loan to the American museum, after which the work could return to Italy, or the museum could apply to renew the loan, or request another object from MiBAC (these are the terms of the agreement).

Attributed to the Greek painter Cleophon, the skyphos has been on public display at the U.S. museum since its acquisition and also featured in an exhibition held in 1996-1997 and titled The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections, which was staged in two stages, one at the Toledo Museum of Art and the other at the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida. The scene painted on the pottery vase shows Hephaestus, the god of fire, seeking revenge after his violent banishment from Olympus: the god sets a trap (a golden throne from which it is impossible to rise) for Hera, his mother but also responsible for the banishment. The goddess ends up captured without anyone being able to free her. Only the intervention of Dionysus, god of wine, resolves the situation: he gets Hephaestus drunk and frees Hera, bringing the god of fire back to Olympus tied to the back of a mule.

“The Toledo Museum of Art,” reads a note from the museum, “is committed to the protection of cultural heritage and the responsible acquisition of archaeological materials and ancient art. Its collections management policy adheres to the strictest ethical guidelines, institutional transparency, and professional best practices. The Toledo Museum of Art conducts rigorous provenance investigations of all new acquisitions and continues to research objects already in the collection that may have questionable provenance. The Museum has always been active in resolving all questions of ownership of works and welcomes all new information about objects in its collection.”

Pictured: the skyphos returned from the U.S. to Italy.

US returns to Italy an Attic skyphos purchased by the Toledo Museum of Art in 1982

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