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Green Guide
Roman statues rescued in Spain
PUBLISHED:
March 28, 2012 at
5:06 pm • LAST EDITED:
March 29, 2012 at
9:18 pm
Andalucia, Cordoba •
10 Comments
|
| • The figures were traced to a finca in Cordoba |
A PAIR of first century bronze statues about to be sold on the black market have been recovered by police in Jaen.
The Roman figures, valued at six million euros each, were taken from the ancient Roman site of Sacilis Marcialis and are believed to form part of the Castor and Polix sculpture in Cordoba.
The statues, 1.50m and 1.30m in size, depict two naked males, with each piece weighing about 30 kilos and in a good state of conservation, although one has lost part of his chest and the other his genitals.
Police managed to trace the figures to a finca in Pedro Abad, in Cordoba, owned by two brothers who were planning to sell them for half their value.
According to police commissioner Daniel Salgado they were about to be sold on the black market to an Italian buyer via an intermediary.
Interpol are now hunting for the buyer.
One of the brothers has also been arrested and two other people charged with a crime against heritage and the attempted smuggling of historic property.
The statues will now be taken to the Cordoba Museum to be restored.
Reader Comments »
March 28th, 2012 6:05 pm
March 29th, 2012 6:42 pm
There is nothing logical about Spain, maybe this why we live here?
April 1st, 2012 3:08 am
Since they are Roman will they be returned to the Italians ?
April 1st, 2012 9:57 pm
Rome conquered the Iberian Penninsula… Don’t you know history? The looters found the statues in Spain, at a Roman site.
April 2nd, 2012 2:20 am
So if it is roman booty then it should be returned just like in the Black Swan case. seems pretty simple, even a greedy spaniard should be able to understand
April 2nd, 2012 3:31 pm
In the meanwhile the government has sold them to the museum, the museum has sold them to the collages, the collages has sold them back the another museum. Good thing the other crooks went to jail. The only reason the government is looking for the original buyer is because they need to drive up the price!
April 2nd, 2012 10:34 pm
If these statues were found in Italy and were recovered in Spain en route to their buyers, then they should be returned to Italy. However, the Iberian peninsula was part of the ancient Roman Empire (Hispania/Lusitania), so these statues could just as easily have been found at a Roman site in Spain, which means they rightfully belong to … SPAIN! Saying they should be returned to Italy is like saying all the Attic vases found in Etruscan tombs should be returned to Greece. Never mind that they were actually imported in antiquity! Or perhaps every Roman artifact found in Britain should be returned to Italy as well? Come on. Now that would be illogical, and it would turn a blind eye to the fact that the ancient Romans were conquerors who spread their influence all over the Mediterranean basin. Roman artifacts are found all over what was in antiquity the Roman empire, and therefore a Roman artifact found in Spain and remaining in Spain is precisely where it belongs; that is its context. Even a stupid person should be able to understand that.
April 2nd, 2012 11:04 pm
so the treasure of the “black swan” was found where and belongs where ? wasn’t the gold from the peoples of S. America? I see they even reject the descendants of the original owners but Gilbralter has some issues with that, and yes a stupid person does believe everything you said
April 3rd, 2012 10:54 am
Hey Allan, its not that I don’t believe what Kat is trying to say – I just don’t understand a word of her confused statement (hope she will explain more elaborate in roughly 50000 more words) ….
does that make me smart ?
April 3rd, 2012 9:21 pm
No , but it does make you appear childish
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Crime against heritage lol. Why don’t they apply that law when they build in biospheres and put oil rigs in pristine Spanish waters? Illogical country, Spain.