Two officers of the Italian police accidentally found a Roman statue in Brussels that disappeared from an archaeological site in Rome in 2011.
The officers belong to a unit charged with the protection of cultural heritage and were on assignment in Brussels. After their work, they took a walk through the Sablon district, where many antique shops can be found.
In one of the shops they saw a man-sized marble statue, which they believed to be from Italy. They took pictures of it and back in Italy they compared them with pictures in a database for stolen art.
First century AD
It was a direct hit. The statue in Brussels turned out to be the art object stolen in Rome ten years ago. It dates back to the 1st century AD and its value is estimated at 100,000 euros.
Following the find, the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating an Italian businessman who used a Spanish-sounding false name. He is suspected of healing and exporting the image. The artwork has been returned to Italy.