Trafficking in Antiquities—Boston’s MFA, Continued

As expected, the accusation earlier in the week that Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts [hereinafter MFA] housed antiquities stolen from Italy has become even more fascinating. Italian prosecutors have presented photographs—which are part of the evidence in the upcoming trial of Marion True and Robert E. Hecht Jr.—of three ancient objects which could make the strongest case yet that the MFA acquired stolen art in the last 25 years.^[1] Furthermore, while it was reported earlier in the week that the MFA had 22 possibly-stolen artifacts, that total has now increased to 29.^[2]

An archaeological professor from Boston University, Ricardo J. Elia, has exclaimed that the photographs are "the smoking gun. … It means they came out of the ground; they were looted and cleaned up and sold. That’s about as strong a case as you’re going to find.”^[3] MFA officials, however, said that they still haven’t heard from Italian authorities, and they continue to dispute that works in its collection were stolen; “There’s absolutely nothing we’ve seen or heard that proves anything to us. … We would be more than happy to hear directly from the Italian government and if, through that process, we find that any object on our collection has been stolen, we will absolutely return it to its prior owner,” said Katherine Getchell, the MFA’s deputy director.^[4]

The MFA is likely to face more intense attention. Paolo Ferri, the Italian prosecutor who is conducting the trial against Ms. True and Mr. Hecht, said earlier this week that he intends to turn his attention to other American museums: “Boston has many questions to answer. … They have to convince me that they were working completely in good faith. Now they have the knowledge that they have acquired stolen artifacts. … [T]hey do have a moral obligation to give back the items to the victim, which in this case is Italy.”^[5] He also maintains that in 1995, he sent a CD-Rom containing photographs of the items to museums across the country, including the MFA.^[6]

The recent focus on the MFA has refreshed memories that the MFA faced scrutiny in 1998 when the Boston Globe exposed how the MFA had obtained 61 antiquities which had no ownership history.^[7] The museum has also returned artworks to France and Poland in recent years.^[8]

We have recently discussed trafficking in antiquities here.

---

[1] Geoff Edgers et al., Case in Italy Suggests MFA Received Stolen Art, Boston Globe, Nov. 4, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.

Trafficking in Antiquities—Boston Museum of Fine Arts

When Italian authorities accused Los Angeles’s J. Paul Getty Museum of displaying artifacts which were allegedly stolen from Italy, perhaps no one foresaw just how roiled the art world would become. As the Italian prosecution of the Getty Museum’s gets into gear, allegations have just been made that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts [hereinafter MFA] may have stolen Italian artifacts as well.^[1] Italian authorities have listed 22 artifacts at the MFA which they claim have been stolen, including a 2,500 year-old Greek vase currently on display at the museum.^[2]

While the MFA’s spokeswoman says that the museum has not yet been contacted by the Italians, and does its own provenance research on its collection, some antiquities experts are saying that “[i]f the Italians are making this very concerted effort to make claims on the Getty, it seems likely they’ll do so with the other museums.”^[3] Furthermore, one of the dealers about to go on trial in Italy, Robert E. Hecht, Jr., sold the Greek vase in question to the MFA, along with other works.^[4] According to the MFA, the vase is listed as being owned in 1972 by a Swiss furniture dealer before being acquired by Mr. Hecht in 1973; there is no prior history.^[5]

In addition to 22 pieces of art in Boston’s MFA, Italians have pointed to eight pieces in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, one in the Princeton University Art Museum, and one in the Cleveland Museum of Art.^[6]

The accusations all come from nearly a 1,000 Polaroid photographs that depict how Greek pottery and Roman statues looted from 2,000-year-old tombs in Italy made their way to the United States; at the end of the journey, Giacomo Medici—who was convicted in Italy last year—and Mr. Hecht pose in front of museum cases displaying the relics.^[7]

In addition to Italy, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, is preparing legal cases against museums and scholars who handle looted objects.^[8] Mr. Hawass takes the cause of preserving Egypt’s cultural heritage so seriously that he has banned academics and institutions that cooperate with antiquities dealers from the country.^[9]

We have been following the controversy surrounding the Getty Museum for some time now, most recently here.

Click here for video

---

[1] Geoff Edgers, Italian Authorities Said to Have Evidence of Looted Works at MFA, Boston Globe, Nov. 1, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Tomb-Robbing Trials Name Getty, Metropolitan, Princeton Museums, Bloomberg, Oct. 31, 2005, available here.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.

McNabb in the News

Senior Principal Douglas McNabb and Matthew McNabb have a new article out addressing extradition and arguing that “Britain is following the United States down the wrong path.”

Prime Minister Blair’s disquieting decision in August to alter British policy with regard to the deportation of so-called “preachers of hate” does not come as much of a surprise to anyone with the most superficial sense of history.
…
Many in Europe stand aghast at the willingness of the American government to step down the long and troubled path of imperial vindictiveness and now too the first steps down the same road have been taken by one of their own.^[1]

---

[1] Douglas C. McNabb, et al., And the Gloves Came Off, European Lawyer, Oct. 2005.

Disclosure of Classified Information—B-2 Stealth Bomber

Somewhat lost in the commotion surrounding Scooter Libby’s Friday indictment was the announcement that a former engineer for Northrop was accused of passing secret technology to three foreign governments.^[1] According to the FBI, Noshir S. Gowaida, who was an engineer who worked on the B-2 stealth bomber’s propulsion system, “has marketed himself to foreign military entities and other foreign persons and disclosed United States military technology secrets related to the B-2 to foreign governments in order to ‘assist’ them in obtaining a higher level of military technology.”^[2]

According to an affidavit, “on October 23, 2002, [Mr.] Gowaida faxed a document containing details for developing infrared technology for a foreign military aircraft to a foreign official in Country “A”. This document, which was a proposal for infrared suppression, was determined to be classified at the Top Secret level.”^[3] Mr. Gowaida is also accused of doing the same with two other countries. His son vehemently protests that Mr. Gowaida is innocent: “The man bleeds red, white and blue for this country and he has done a lot of things that have saved a lot of American military lives.”^[4]

Mr. Gowaida is being charged under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), which makes it a crime for a person who has “unauthorized possession of” or “access to” any documents or plans that relate to the national defense, which he has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the benefit of any foreign nation, to deliver that information to any person not entitled to receive it.

A violation of this section is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.

---

[1] FBI Alleges Engineer Passed B-2 Bomber Secrets to Foreign Governments, Agence France-Presse, Oct. 28, 2005, available here.
[2] FBI, Press Release, Oct. 26, 2005, available here.
[3] Id.
[4] Curtis Lum, Accused Maui Man a ‘Hero,’ Son Says, Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 29, 2005, available here.