The stolen marble head of the first emperor of Rome returned to Italy

A marble sculpture of the head of the first emperor of Rome, stolen and exported from the country forty years ago, returned to the capital of Italy.

Augustus’ sculpture, one of the earliest known images of an emperor born over 2000 years ago, is the last of a large list of artifacts repatriated to Italy after they were smuggled abroad. The scale of the crime is so large that in Italy a special police unit was created to search for the kidnapped.

The head sculpture has a height of 45 cm, and the hairstyle allows us to judge that the work was done at a time when the young Octavius had not yet become emperor, taking the name of Augustus in 27 BC. e. Previously, the sculpture was exhibited in a museum in Brussels. The museum acquired an artifact from a private collector, not suspecting that the sculpture was stolen.

As soon as art historians established the fact of abduction in the 1970s, the museum immediately decided to return its head to Italy. Unfortunately, over the past time, the sculpture has received serious damage. Experts believe that previously the marble head was part of a large sculpture of the emperor.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru