The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has deaccessioned and returned 41 ancient polychrome terracotta reliefs after an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit determined they had been looted.

“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts takes seriously and responds to all restitution claims for works in our collection,” said VMFA Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “Based on the evidence shown to VMFA, we are convinced that we do not have clear title for these reliefs. We are therefore happy to be working with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to return all of the polychrome terracotta fragments in question to Türkiye.” 

The reliefs, valued at around $400,000, were part of a large series from a 6th-century B.C. Phrygian temple at Düver in southwestern Turkey. The site was illegally excavated and looted between 1962 and 1968, and the fragments were sold on the international art market. VMFA acquired 34 of them in 1978 from Summa Galleries in Beverly Hills, California; six more were gifts from Chicago dealer Harlan J. Berk; and an additional fragment came from Summa Galleries the following year. 

VMFA’s curatorial and provenance staff supplied extensive documentation, including sales receipts, invoices, bills of sale, shipping records and correspondence, in response to the restitution claim submitted Nov. 3. On Nov. 17, retired Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos, head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, presented what the museum described as “clear, compelling and irrefutable evidence that the works under investigation were stolen or looted and should be repatriated to Turkey.” 

“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is committed to returning any antiquities that are discovered to be unlawfully held,” said Dr. Lisa Brody, VMFA’s Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art. “When, as in this case, there is indisputable evidence that objects were obtained through illicit excavation and illegal export, we consider it essential to return these works to their country of origin.” 

“Stolen or looted art has no place in our collection,” said Artistic Director and Chief Curator Dr. Michael Taylor. “We are therefore delighted to return these works and thank Col. Bogdanos and his team of investigators for alerting VMFA to the presence of these illegally excavated works in our ancient art holdings.” 

According to a news release, the museum follows guidelines set by the American Alliance of Museums and the American Association of Art Museum Directors regarding provenance research. In 2023, the museum repatriated 44 works of ancient art to Italy, Egypt and Turkey. Since 2004, the museum has resolved four Nazi-era art claims, returning three to rightful owners and retaining one through a compensation agreement.