Christoph Leon

Christoph F. Leon (* 1939 ) is an Austrian classical archaeologist and art dealer who works in Switzerland .

Life

Christoph Leon studied Classical Archeology and received his doctorate with a thesis on the architectural ornamentation of the Trajan's Forum . He was best known as an art dealer and middleman in the art sales of particularly outstanding artifacts. Among other things, he was jointly responsible for the sale of an Apulian group of vases to the Antikensammlung Berlin in 1984 , which later turned out to be a robbery excavation. In 1993 he was responsible for the sale of a Macedonian gold wreath to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles , which is also considered looted by the Greek authorities. Leon was therefore indicted in Athens together with the former curator of the museum, Marion True . But the origin is not really clarified, Leon sees himself and his profession denigrated and above all exposed to unjustified allegations of robbery from Greece. For his part, he advocates a clean art trade and condemns some of the methods of other art dealers who want to purify supposed antiques through exhibitions in renowned collections.

His sister is the archaeologist Veronika Mitsopoulos-Leon .

Fonts

• The architectural ornamentation of the Trajan's Forum and its position in the early and mid-imperial architectural decoration of Rome , Böhlau, Vienna-Cologne-Graz 1971 (publications of the Austrian Cultural Institute in Rome. Department 1: Treatises, Vol. 4) ISBN 3-205-08530-2 ( = Dissertation).
• Athens and Attica , Hallwag, Bern-Stuttgart 1978 (Hallwag Guide) ISBN 3-444-06012-2 .
• Peloponnese , with photographs by Hans Weber, Hallwag, Bern-Stuttgart 1981 (Hallwag guide) ISBN 3-444-10277-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Flowers of Evil . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 2007 ( online ).
2. ^ Forest spirit in the fishing net . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 2007 ( online ).
3. ↑ Heroes Put to the Test . In: Der Spiegel . No. 3 , 2008 ( online ).