Plundered frescoes return to Cyprus

August 4 2014

Image of Plundered frescoes return to Cyprus

Picture: NPR

There's an interesting story on National Public Radio radio in the US, about a series of 13th Century Byzantine frescoes looted from northern Cyprus in the 1970s. The frescoes were hacked by chainsaws from a small church abandoned after the Turkish invasion, and offered for sale to the late art collector and philanthropist Dominique de Menil in Munich. De Menil soon figured out that the works were looted, and secretly offered to buy and return them to Cyprus after a spell on public display, and after conserving them. Until now they've been on show at the Menil Collection in Houston, but are now going back to Cyprus. You can hear the NPR story and see more photos here.

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