Spain recovers two Visigothic jewels that were stolen and put on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Since 1990, two pieces from Spain have been on display in a display case in one of the galleries dedicated to medieval and Byzantine art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York : two imposing Visigothic pendants, both cast in bronze some 1,500 years ago. One depicts the opposing heads of two beasts; the other, a rider on a horse.

Neither of these two pieces is currently on display at the Met. "Returned April 2025," the museum's website announces on the page for these two Visigothic pendants. Both objects were returned to Spain on July 24, from where they were stolen.

These important Visigothic jewels arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art via British antiquities dealer Robin Symes , who sold them to the museum in 1990 without specifying their provenance. Symes died in 2023, but according to judicial investigations, the total value of the pieces he trafficked is estimated to be at least €150 million.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's Antiquities Trafficking Unit (ATU) investigated the origin of these two Visigothic pendants, determining that they had been looted and ordering their return to Spain. Since 2021 alone, when Alvin Bragg became New York County District Attorney, the ATU has recovered 2,375 stolen antiquities from 46 countries, valued at a total of more than €255 million.

“Spain once again expresses its gratitude for the excellent work and diligence of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the New York District Attorney's Office in the recovery of these two Spanish antiquities and highlights the excellent cooperation between both countries in the fight against trafficking in cultural property,” said Marta de Blas Mayordomo , Consul General of Spain in New York.

The ATU was established in 2017 to investigate and recover archaeological and artistic artifacts from illegal trade. Since then, its investigations have led to the conviction of 18 individuals for crimes related to trafficking in cultural property and the recovery of more than 6,060 antiquities valued at over $476 million, of which more than 5,700 have been returned to 30 countries to date.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a collection of more than 1.5 million art objects from around the world spanning 5,000 years. “The Met is committed to responsible collecting and makes every effort to ensure that all objects entering its collection meet our strict standards,” says its director, Max Hollein . As part of its policy of research, transparency, and collaboration, the museum has returned several pieces that had been looted.

Recent ATU investigations have led to the repatriation of 34 objects looted from those countries to Spain, Hungary, and Italy in recent weeks, 16 of which were part of the Metropolitan Museum's collection. Among the 31 antiquities returned to Italy are, for example , 61 fragments of an imposing krater , one of those terracotta vessels with black designs typical of ancient Greece, which was decorated by the painter Lydos in 580 BC. The history of this vessel illustrates the complex efforts of smugglers who traffic in looted antiquities: they fragment the objects to sell them individually and then market them over several years. The pieces were loaned by Robin Symes to the Getty Museum, and after various vicissitudes, the Metropolitan acquired all the fragments in 1997. The ATU, after verifying their illegal origin, seized these 61 pieces and on August 4 they were returned to Italy , along with 30 other antiquities from illegal trafficking.

Another piece recently returned to Italy is a first-century AD marble head depicting Alexander the Great as Helios, the sun god. The bust was found in the Roman Forum and subsequently stolen from the Museo Antiquarium Forense, a state-run archaeological museum in the Italian capital. After being laundered through various individuals and institutions in New York, it was acquired in good faith by New York antiquarian Alan Safani in 2017. The ATU seized the piece pursuant to a court order, and Safani eventually agreed to hand it over for repatriation.

Nine archaeological artifacts from Tarentum (Taras in antiquity), an important Greek colony founded in the 8th century BC in southern Italy's Apulia region, have also returned to Italy: a limestone column capital, a capital fragment, a Corinthian column capital, a pair of terracotta plaques inlaid with glass, three fragments of a limestone relief, and a limestone relief depicting a woman. All nine objects date to the 4th and 3rd centuries BC and come from tombs in southern Italy . In 1995, the capital fragment and the limestone column were donated to the Met without any prior information as to their provenance. The remaining seven objects remained hidden until the mid-1990s, when they first came to light in the possession of the famous Robin Symes, citing their origin in an "English collection" —the ubiquitous tagline used to conceal the true provenance of looted antiquities. The Met acquired the seven objects from Symes between 1996 and 1999. The ATU seized them a few months ago, and they have now been returned to Italy.

“I wish to express our profound gratitude to the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Cultural Heritage Protection Command of the Carabinieri. Their effective collaboration in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property has culminated in another important restitution to Italy of 31 artifacts. These objects—stolen, illegally unearthed, or clandestinely exported—have an estimated value of more than $4 million and are of immeasurable scientific and cultural importance to our country,” said Fabrizio Di Michele , Consul General of Italy in New York.

Furthermore, ATU investigations have enabled Hungary to recover the Nervus Opticus Sive Tractatus Theoricus , a three-book manuscript published by the Jesuit Zacharias Traber in 1675. During World War II, the manuscript was illegally removed from the library of the Eötvös József Collegium in Budapest. The ATU recently seized the manuscript from a rare book dealer based in New York.