Object Description
Sarcophagus Fragment
Roman marble sarcophagus fragment depicting a battle between Greeks and Trojans
Identification Date
07 Jan 2017
Identification Location
Royal-Athena Galleries, Manhattan, New York
Artefact History
25 May 1988
Handwritten document suggests that the Greek middleman Georgios Zenebisis was in possession of the artefact in 1988 and on May 25, 1988 Georgios Zenebisis sells the artefact for 60,000 CH (Swiss Francs) to the Basel-based Italian antiquities dealer Gianfranco Becchina. The document was discovered by Tsirogiannis in the Becchina archive.
15 Apr 1991
On April 15, 1991 Gianfranco Becchina sells the artefact for $95,000 to Jerome Eisenberg, owner and director of the ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’ in Manhattan, New York. Becchina’s invoice to Eisenberg was discovered by Tsirogiannis in the Becchina archive.
April 2000
According to ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’, in April 2000 ‘Dr. H.’ acquires the artefact from ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’.
January 2017
In January 2017 the artefact appears for sale in the 2017 ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’ antiquities catalogue with the ‘provenance’: ‘Ex Swiss art market, April 1991; Dr. H. collection, Germany, acquired from Royal-Athena in April 2000’.
07 Jan 2017
Christos Tsirogiannis identified the artefact at the ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’.
08 Jan 2017
Christos Tsirogiannis notified the Manhattan DA’s Office in New York.
January 2017
Confiscated by the Manhattan DA’s Office in January 2017
Artefact Status
February 2017
Repatriated to Greece in February 2017
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