Ancient Erotic Mosaic, Stolen by Nazi During WWII, Repatriated to Pompeii
Ancient Erotic Mosaic, Stolen by Nazi During WWII, Repatriated to Pompeii
An ancient erotic mosaic, pilfered from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain during the Second World War, has finally been returned to the historic Italian archaeological site. The relic, depicting a pair of lovers and dating back to between the mid-last century BC and the first century AD, was discovered among the heirlooms of a deceased German citizen. This individual had received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain, who oversaw the German military supply chain in Italy during the war.
The mosaic’s presence in Germany came to light when the deceased’s relatives contacted Italy’s Carabinieri cultural heritage protection squad in Rome, seeking guidance on its return. After verifying the artwork’s authenticity – believed to have once adorned a Pompeii bedroom floor – the Italian consulate in Stuttgart facilitated its repatriation.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii archaeological park, expressed profound gratitude for the recovery, stating, “Every looted artefact that returns is a wound that heals.” He underscored the historical significance over material value, highlighting the severe damage inflicted by illicit antiquities trafficking. The mosaic will be temporarily housed at the Pompeii Antiquarium, a museum dedicated to artifacts from the site, pending further study and archaeometric analysis to reconstruct its full history.
This successful repatriation adds to the extensive list of cultural artifacts recovered by Italy’s specialist police squad, which has retrieved over 3 million stolen items since its establishment in 1969. Recent returns include wall frescoes from Stabiae in 2021 and numerous instances of tourists returning pilfered items to Pompeii, a site famously preserved under volcanic ash after the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
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