Carabinieri recovered three Pompeiian frescoes stolen in 1957

 

The Italian Carabinieri have recovered three frescoes stolen from the ancient archeological area of Pompei in the 1950s, part of a private collection of a deceased United States businessman. The frescoes dates back to the first century BC and feature two women and a man.

 

One of the frescoes shows a young woman with an amorino or cupid on her shoulder, the other one shows a woman wearing a long red cloak and carrying a wine goblet called ‘oinochoe’. The third shows a man in an elegant pose.

   

They were part of a group of six frescoes that were plundered from the Pompeii archaeological superintendent’s office in 1957. The three newly recovered frescoes were part of a haul of 25 masterpieces smuggled out of Italy and illicitly sold over the years.

   

Other major works recovered by the Carabinieri unit and shown to journalists Tuesday include a second-century AD white marble ‘sleeping beauty’ and a pinnacle from a tomb from the ancient Greek city of Paestum near Salerno, dating to the third or fourth century BC and showing a Macedonian-style flute player. The treasures, valued at over 30 million euros, will now be returned to their places of origin or museums.