Object Description
Four Etruscan Terracotta Panels

A set of four Etruscan terracotta panels depicting mounted knights 

Identification Date
Between 2018 - 2021
Identification Location
Private collection of Michael Steinhardt, Manhattan, New York. 
Artefact History
1993

One regular-print image from the archive confiscated from the antiquities dealer Edoardo Almagià. The panels are depicted unrestored, covered with soil and lying on an Italian newspaper, with an advertisement for the 1993 celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Topolino Magazine (Italian for Mickey Mouse).

22 Aug 2001

The four panels were purchased by Michael Steinhardt from Edoardo Almagià for $155,000. Almagià falsely claimed on his invoice to Steinhardt that the Etruscan Panels were “ex Hunziger family, Zurich.”

Between 2018 - 2021

On the request of the Manhattan DA’s Office, the four Etruscan terracotta panels have been identified probably by the Italian authorities, in the Steinhardt collection, between 2018 and 2021. 

Artefact Status
February 2022

In December 2021, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced that the four panels will be repatriated to Italy. Their repatriation took place on February 2022.