Hunting antiques in thrift stores and flea markets sometimes allows you to have surprises: buying a Roman bust for $35, only to discover a few years later that it dates from the 1st century AD.
This beautiful story comes from the United States where, in 2018, an antique dealer named Laura Young decides to go in search of "something cool" in a second-hand store in Austin, Texas. She quickly sights a sculpted marble bust, slightly dirty and left abandoned under a second-hand clothes table. His price? Just 35 dollars. Laura Young decides to buy it without any idea of its real value.
The American, however, has a doubt. The bust, which she knows nothing about, appeared to be "really, really old , " she told the BBC . The woman then embarked on research to date and determine the character that this sculpture represents. The experts follow one another, and the verdict falls: the statue turns out to be a 2,000-year-old Roman bust, which dates back to the 1st century AD. Its value is priceless.
Stolen in Bavaria
Throughout the expertise, the mysteries surrounding the sculpture arise, particularly on the identity of the character it represents. It would be a Roman general named Drusus Germanicus (38-9 BC), known to have fought in German lands. However, not everyone is of the same opinion. Some believe that it is rather one of the sons of Pompey the Great (106-48 BC), who had faced Julius Caesar during the civil war (49-45 BC). -C) .
Its provenance has also been clarified. The bust is believed to be from a replica of a Roman villa in Germany called Pompejanum, built in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, and badly damaged during World War II. The sculpture would have been brought to the United States by an American soldier stationed in the German city, specifies the British media .
Stolen, the bust, therefore cannot be sold by Laura Young and will soon be exhibited in a museum in San Antonio, in the southern United States. At least until 2023 . In a year, the work will indeed make the opposite journey, and will return to Germany.
Seen in Slate - Robin Tutenges