Artifacts Seized On Upper East Side Returned To Italy, DA Says

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An ornate mosaic flooring section of a Roman ship commissioned by the Emperor Caligula somehow found its way from the bottom of Lake Nemi to the Upper East Side, and now it's headed back home, the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced.

Ancient Italian artifacts seized on the Upper East Side were repatriated during a Thursday ceremony with officials from the Italian government, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said in a statement.

"Returning long lost relics to their rightful owners is at the core of my Office’s mission to end the looting of rare cultural treasures and trafficking of stolen antiquities," District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. "These items may be beautiful, storied, and immensely valuable to collectors, but willfully disregarding the provenance of an item is effectively offering tacit approval of a harmful practice that is, fundamentally, criminal."

The mosaic tile was seized from the home of antique dealer Helen Fioratti, who maintains that her purchase of the mosaic was legitimate but will not fight the repatriation, the New York Times first reported. Fioratti and her husband Nereo purchased the artifact from an aristocratic family in the late 1960s in a deal brokered by an Italian police official, she told the Times.

The tile section is believed to have been commissioned by Roman Emperor Caligula and dates back to the year 35 A.D., according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. The mosaic was part of a ship Caligula frequented on Lake Nemi, which is located about 20 miles south of Rome. The ships were ornate "artificial floating islands" on the lake that were used either as pleasure barges or floating temples to the goddess of the hunt Diana, the Times reported.

The Fioratti's had been using the mosaic piece as a coffee table in their Upper East Side home, the Times reported.

After Caligula's reign the ships sunk to the bottom of Lake Nemi, according to the DA's office. The ships were excavated from the lake during the 1920s and artifacts from the excavation were placed in a museum. During World War II the museum was used as a bomb shelter and many artifacts were destroyed, meaning the mosaic tile is one of the only remaining intact artifacts from the ships, according to the DA's office.

Other Italian artifacts such as a Paestan red-figure bell krater seized from the Metropolitan Musuem of Art and a Campanian red-figure fish plate seized from a Christie's auction were also returned to Italy on Thursday.

"Protecting cultural heritage is a top priority for Italy, as well as a hallmark of Italian foreign policy. Italy is committed to encouraging the international community to be increasingly aware—and engaged—on this, and to taking concrete steps to protect that which belongs to us all," Ambassador of Italy to the U.S. Armando Varricchio said in a statement. "Italy and the U.S. are united in many fields, including the need to fight trafficking of archaeological material."

Photos courtesy Manhattan District Attorney's Office