The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) has agreed to return to Libya a 2,200-year-old statue from Ancient Egypt's Potelamic Dynasty that is suspected to have been looted after the Second World War. Collector Lawrence A. Fleischman gave the statue to the museum in honour of Arielle P. Kozloff, the museum’s then-curator of ancient art. In 2023, the Libyan department of antiquities reached out to the CMA, requesting acknowledgement that the statue had been taken from the Ptolemais Museum in Libya. The CMA's agreement with Libyan authorities is in keeping with the museum's bespoke approach to repatriation issues, according to Griswold. Despite this recent history, the museum has challenged the Manhattan District Attorney’s order to return an ancient bronze statue once thought to depict Marcus Aurelius to Turkey, suing to block restitution efforts.

Source: Libya Today May 29, 2024 21:05 UTC