The Medici Conspiracy
Page 51
quality of the antiquities in the inventory of
release from prison with troubles still looming
Schinoussa in the life and operations of
smuggling, collaboration in
value placed on his holdings by
wall relief offered for sale to the Met
Xoilan Trader, Inc. and
See also Robin Symes Limited (London)
Syriskos
Tagliaferri, Francesco
Tanis Antiquities Ltd.
Tarquinia (Etruscan city)
Taubman, A. Alfred
Tavernier, Edmond
Tchacos-Nussberger, Frederique “Frida”
Artemis statue sold by
association with Medici, paperwork indicating
on Cottier-Angeli
Ferri, deal worked out with
fragments sold by
Gospel of Judas manuscript acquired by
Hecht memoir, mentioned in
the investigation of
litigation against
Medici, description of as “monopoliser” of the market
Medici “cordata,” participant in
name of in the organigram
prosecutorial interrogations of others, mentioned in
sentence received by
Symes and
Tecafin
Tempelsman, Maurice
Thomas, Sir Keith
Thompson, Margaret
Three-Heads Wolf Painter
Three Lines Group
Tokely-Parry, Jonathan
Toledo Museum of Art
Tolve, Massimo
Tombaroli (tomb robbers)
brutality of in dealing with artifacts
Casasanta
Cenere, Armando
collectors, supply of
conversations of recorded by phone taps
Evangelisti, Giuseppe
motivations of, claimed and actual
prosecutorial interrogations of
scale of the activities of
Topic-Mimara, Ante
Trademarks on Greek Vases (Johnston)
Treaty of Sèvres
Trendall, Dale
Trial of Medici
deal offered by Medici to the prosecutor
Medici’s defense
setting the stage
the verdict
Triangulation
confirmed in True interview
the Fleischman Collection and
fragments, sale of as aspect of
the Getty Museum, used in acquisitions by
Symes interview, confirmation of in
Trittolemos Painter
True, Marion
acquisitions involving Medici by
the Fleischman Collection, acquisition of
fragments, testimony regarding
on a fresco in the Fleischman Collection
full curator at the Getty, appointment as
future of
Greek charges against
Greek investigations of (see Operation Eclipse and subsequent Greek investigations)
Hecht memoir, discussed in
interrogation of
interviews of others, discussed in
investigation of
judge’s comments regarding in Medici trial
leaked documents relating to
Medici, association with
Medici’s trial, discussed in
pictures of found on Schinoussa
proposed fellowship, support of
public standing of
reputation in Italy
resignation of
Roman funerary relief, misdirected email from regarding
smuggled statue, observation of
trial of
vacation home, purchase of
Walsh on
Tsatalis, Georgios
Tsirogiannis, Christos
Turkey
the Lydian Hoard and
the Morgantina silver and
police actions regarding stolen antiquities in
Tyrrhenos
Tzallas, George
UNESCO, attempts to control movement of archaeological/cultural property
UNIDROIT convention
Union Bank of Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Unprovenanced antiquities, extent of trade in. See Antiquities; Chippindale’s Law; Network of trade in unprovenanced antiquities
Urban II
Vasari, Giorgio
Vases, Greek. See Greek vases
Vatican Painter
Vermeule, Cornelius
Vermeule, Emily
Vickers, Michael
Vilbert, Serge
Viterbo, Antonio da
von Bothmer, Dietrich
American Institute of Archaeology, failure of election to board of trustees
attributions for objects in the Fleischman collection provided by
attributions for objects owned by the Getty provided by
Becchina, relations with
the Euphronios krater, acquisition of
Ferri’s interest in interviewing
the Fleischman Collection and
fragments, frequent contribution of
fragments, skill at identifying
Frel as employee of
Hecht memoir, discussed in
kylix by Euphronios, reference to
the Lydian Hoard
Medici, association with
the Morgantina silver and
on the poorly drawn and average vase
proposed fellowship, opposition to
public standing of
reputation in Italy
request to interview
Tchacos interview, discussed in
True, close links with
True interrogation, discussed in
Walk, Seymour
Walsh, John
Warren, E. P.
Wedgwood, Joshua
Weintraub, Sy
White, Shelby. See also Levy-White collection
Wight, Karol
Wilkie, Nancy
Williams, Dyfri
Williams, Harold
Wilson, Peter
Winckelman, Johann Joachim
Wish fulfillment
Wood, James N.
Würzburg Painter
Xoilan Trader, Inc.
Zakos, George
Zavitsianos, Apostolos
Zbinden Collection
Zevi, Fausto
Zicchi, Danilo
Zirganos, Nikolas
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Peter Watson has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the London Times and Sunday Times, the Observer, and Spectator. Since June 1997, he has been a research associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. His books include The Caravaggio Conspiracy, From Manet to Manhattan, and Sotheby’s: The Inside Story.
Cecilia Todeschini is a researcher and translator who has worked for the BBC, ITV, CBS, ABC, and CBC. For many years she specialized in reporting on the Mafia, covering the great trials in Palermo. Among many other subjects, she has also covered papal conclaves.
Nikolas Zirganos (Chapter 21) is an investigative reporter based in Athens. He works for Kyriakatiki Eleftheroptypia newspaper and Epsilon magazine.
PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.
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BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of Th
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a From Etruria in Italy, the modern area stretching north of Rome to Grosseto, Siena, and Florence and into Umbria as far as Perugia.
b This illegal dig had come to light when a building company had been clearing a road, which had collapsed. It turned out that the road had collapsed because tombaroli had built a tunnel under it, to get from a house on one side to a stipe—a room attached to a temple—opposite. Votive objects galore had been smuggled out via this tunnel, but once the road had collapsed, the very distinctive antiquities from Scrimbia had been on the Carabinieri’s watch list ever since. Dozens of objects in Savoca’s mansard room matched the style of objects typically found at Scrimbia.
c One such object was the sarcophagus stolen from the Church of San Saba in Rome, which had been consigned to Sotheby’s in London by Editions Services (see p. 19).
d The Brygos Painter flourished in Athens c. 490–470 BC and was a pupil of Onesimos.
e See p. 73.
f In the catalog of the Passion for Antiquities exhibition, in relation to catalog number 126, the text of the Hercules reads as follows: “The superb illusionism of Second-Style Roman wall painting is brilliantly in evidence in this fragment from the upper zone of a Pompeian wall.” It continues: “The upper portion of the fresco matches precisely the upper portion of a fresco section in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Collection... and is from the same room as catalogue number 125” (italics added; see the Dossier section). Catalog number 125 was in fact another fresco fragment, consisting of two rectangular panels and showing landscape scenes bathed in a light blue-green hue. The text argues that, based on the right-to-left orientation of the shadows on the columns, “this was part of the right-hand wall upon entering the room.”
These two items recall the frescoes from the Pompeian villa that Pellegrini first encountered when delving into Medici’s documentation—they too were of the Second-Style (see p. 69).
We know that three walls were photographed by the tombaroli, but it is not clear if they are from the same villa. Only parts of three walls were recovered in Corridor 17, but if the building had dimensions as hinted at in the diagram on p. 71, many frescoes might still be missing.
g See the Dossier section.
h See Note, pp. 384–385.
i See p. 22.
j The circumstantial evidence was that the buyer lodged a bid just above the reserve on each item and did not bid on any other items. Furthermore, the commission bid was lodged just minutes before the sale, and afterward, Sotheby’s shipping department was instructed to send the purchases of Arts Franc together with the purchases of Editions Services to Arts Franc’s address in Geneva.
k See p. 62.
l See p. 19.
m See pp. 96–98.
n See pp. 103–106.
o See p. 129.
p See pp. 129–130.
q See p. 10.
r See p. 84.
s See p. 26 and the Notes, p. 386.
t See p. 82.
u Again, see p. 99 and 209.
v See the Prologue, p. xvi.
w See pp. 103–106.
x See p. 104.
y See Chap. 16.
z See p. 131.
aa See p. 204 for the circumstances.
ab The lost palace of King Sennacherib (704–681 BC) was rediscovered in 1847 by the British adventurer Austen Henry Layard. According to Genesis, Nineveh was among the first cities to be built after the Flood.
ac See p. 104.
ad See the Prologue.
ae In an interview with Peter Watson in London on February 6, 2006, Robin Symes said he had contributed $1 million to the Oxford Fellowship.
af See p. 106.
ag The Kalmakarra Cave, known as the Western Cave, is located about nine miles northwest of Pol-e Dokhtar in Luristan, near the Iraq border. Several hundred objects are believed to have been looted and are now dispersed in Turkey, Japan, Britain, Switzerland, and the United States. In 1993, Turkish authorities seized a number of objects believed to belong to the treasure. One of the experts who examined the griffin noted its similarities to certain objects in the Miho Museum in Japan.
ah See pp. 123–126 for a discussion of their quality and probable provenance.
ai See p. 204.
aj See pp. 26–27.
ak By now, Pellegrini had worked out that the organigram must have been written down sometime between 1990 and 1993. The chart showed Mario Bruno, of Lugano, on a secondary level, below Medici and Becchina but above the capi zona. By then, the investigators had established from other interviews and interrogations that Bruno had been a prominent figure in the antiquities underworld in the 1980s, almost on a level with Hecht, but had lost some of his influence since then, though no one knew why. Bruno died in 1993, so it follows that the organigram was compiled between these dates.
al See pp. 240–242.
am See pp. 244–245.
an Nikolas Zirganos is an investigative reporter based in Athens. He works for Kyriakatiki Eleftheroptypia newspaper and Epsilon magazine.
ao This perhaps also explained something that had puzzled Ludovic de Walden, the London lawyer for the Papadimitriou family. It was known that Christo always made notes using the yellow legal pads favored by American law firms. No notes of any kind by Christo, on yellow paper, were ever found among the archives, save for the one sheet written on in Symes’s distinctive handwriting (see pp. 254–255). Is this what Symes was burning on Schinoussa?
ap See p. 239.
aq See p. 103.
ar See the explanation for this above, p. 373.
Copyright © 2006, 2007 by Peter F. Watson and Cecilia Todeschini. Copyright © 2007 by Nikolas Zirganos for Chapter 21. Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™, a member of the Perseus Books Group. All rights reserved.
Paolo Ferri photo © Alberto Cristofari/A3/Contrasto/Redux.
All other photos courtesy of the authors and the Italian investigators.
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