Giacomo Medici (antique dealer)

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Giacomo Medici is an Italian antiques dealer convicted in 2004 of trading in stolen ancient works of art. His actions are considered “one of the largest and most sophisticated antiquity networks in the world, which was responsible for illegal excavations and the illegal export of thousands of high-quality unique items. His clientele belonged to the top of the international art market. "

In 1995, a unit of the Italian Carabinieri , the Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TCP) , which specializes in the protection of cultural property, began investigating Medici's company Editions Services for the sale of three ancient marble statues that had previously been stolen from a collection. On September 13, 1995, Swiss and Italian officials raided the company's warehouse near Geneva airport where goods had been stored for resale. Hundreds of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan pieces have been found there, including an Etruscan underplate that cost more than $ 2 million . In addition to these pieces, investigators found extensive correspondence between Medici and art dealers, including in London and New York, as well as a kind of archive in which thousands of photos of antique pieces that had been sold by the Medici were found. In some cases the entire process from the illegal excavation to professional restoration to the sale of the valuable pieces for large sums has been documented photographically. Investigators also found photos of illegally excavated pieces that were ended up in renowned museums.

Medici was arrested in 1997 and finally sentenced by a court in Rome in 2004 to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of 10 million euros, the highest penalty ever imposed in Italy for art theft.

The findings from the investigation against Medici led the Italian police to investigate the antique dealer Robert E. Hecht and the former curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum , Marion True , for illegal art exports in 2005 . The process was discontinued in 2010.

literature

  • Andrew L. Slayman: Geneva Seizure . In: Archeology. May 3, 1998 (updated September 14)
  • Peter Watson , Cecilia Todeschini: The Medici Conspiracy. The trade in art treasures from the looting of Italian graves and museums. Parthas-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-86601-905-8

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Men's Vogue. Vol. 2, No. 3, November / December 2006, p. 46
  2. ^ Men's Vogue. Vol. 2, No. 3, November / December 2006, p. 44.
personal data
SURNAME Medici, Giacomo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian antique dealer
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century