New York’s Met museum returns stolen Greek bronze

The bronze head of a griffin from 7th century BC. —The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/File

ATHENS: Greece on Tuesday said it had recovered from New York´s Metropolitan Museum of Art a 2,600-year-old bronze artifact stolen from ancient Olympia in the 1930s.

The Greek culture ministry in a statement said the bronze griffin´s head, dated to 650-625 BC and was an “exquisite sample of ancient Greek metalwork.” It had previously been “prominently” displayed at the Met´s ancient Greek and Roman art collection, the ministry said. The 25.8-centimetre head was originally a decorative part of a tripod cauldron, which in antiquity were popular religious offerings to gods.