An Egyptian funerary portrait, acquired in 2011 by the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, was seized by the courts due to “strong suspicions” about its authenticity, the city of Lille said on Wednesday, while an investigation is underway. course on international antiquities trafficking. It is the portrait of a notable from the Fayoum region, painted on a wooden panel, and “known under the title of Portrait of a Roman soldier, dating from the 2nd century AD”, indicates the municipality in a communicated. During a “public sale”, it had been pre-empted “with the recommendations of the Louvre”, the town hall told AFP.
A judicial investigation was opened in 2020 in France regarding international trafficking in antiquities, which would have notably resulted in the sale of works looted in Egypt during the Arab Spring to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Louvre. At least nine people are indicted, including the former president and director of the Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez and a Parisian gallery owner, Christophe Kunicki.
According to Libération, which revealed this seizure in Lille, the disputed portrait was purchased for 100,000 euros with the approval of the Louvre, after having been appraised by Mr. Kunicki. According to the town hall, it was seized in mid-2023 by the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC) which estimated that “strong suspicions weighed on the authenticity” of this work, acquired “from the house Pierre Bergé and associates.
The work was seized “as part of the legal procedure, so that it could be analyzed by a research and restoration laboratory” indicated the City of Lille, adding that it was “likely to file a complaint and bring a civil action if the investigation proves that there was deception on the part of the sellers.