The office seized 27 items from the Met using three search warrants. They will be repatriated to their countries of origin, Attorney General Alvin Bragg told CNN.
“We have two repatriation ceremonies next week, one with Italy and one with Egypt,” the spokesman told CNN. “Fifty-eight objects will go back to Italy, 21 from the Met. Sixteen to Egypt, six from the Met.”
Bragg’s office did not say where the other items were seized from, or describe the items that were seized.
“It should be no secret to collectors, art museums and auction houses that they may be in possession of pieces by known traffickers that were illegally looted,” Bragg said. “My office’s investigations have clearly exposed these networks and brought to light a wealth of information that the art world can proactively use to return antiquities to their rightful place.”
“Our investigations, which have led to the repatriation of nearly 2,000 items, will continue,” he added.
CNN has reached out to the Met for comment.
The effort to return cultural objects to their countries of origin after being illegally sold to private collectors or museums continues. In August, New York officials returned 30 antiquities to Cambodia, including a 10th-century “masterpiece” of Khmer sculpture. Officials also returned nearly $14 million worth of stolen antiquities to Italy in July, including dozens of items seized from US billionaire Michael Steinhardt. In 2021, the Met returned to Nigeria three African art objects, including a pair of 16th-century Benin brass plaques. The move comes after European museums began repatriating stolen African art following growing pressure to return irreplaceable items looted during colonial rule.
