Marble Head of a Bull

CREATION

According to museum and Lebanese officials, it was first cataloged in 1967 by a Swiss archaeologist excavating the Temple of Eshmun in Sidon, Lebanon. It is believed to be of Greek origin, was warehoused in the city of Byblos, the site of a looting spree in the 1980s.

LOOTED

The 2,300-year-old marble bull’s head, is believed to have been stolen from a warehouse in Lebanon during the civil war in the 1980s.

ON VIEW AT THE MET

The statue, which is nearly a foot tall, has been on loan to the museum since 2010 and had been on display in the Greek and Roman galleries. It belongs to William and Lynda Beierwaltes, who paid over $1 million for it in 1996.

RETURNING HOME

The museum gave the work over to Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance after a warrant was obtained on July 6, 2017.

“Upon a Met curator’s discovery that this item on loan may have been stolen from government storage during the Lebanese civil war, the Museum took immediate action,” said Kenneth Weine, the Met’s chief communications officer, in a statement.

Marble Headof a Bull

Marble Head
of a Bull