Elizabeth Marlowe
@lizmarlowe.bsky.social
Art History & Museum Studies Prof. Ancient Rome, object biography, epistemology, museums, display, looting, provenance, forgery.
Banjo giving you her best come hither look.
September 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Banjo giving you her best come hither look.
ISO narrative non-fiction books that braid together 3 separate story-threads (eg 3 different characters or 3 distinct chronological moments, etc). I know of many that do 2 (e.g. Devil in the White City with the murderer and the planning of the fair); am seeking a book that does 3! Recs? #Booksky
September 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
ISO narrative non-fiction books that braid together 3 separate story-threads (eg 3 different characters or 3 distinct chronological moments, etc). I know of many that do 2 (e.g. Devil in the White City with the murderer and the planning of the fair); am seeking a book that does 3! Recs? #Booksky
Reposting mostly so I can find; this reading list would make for a great freshman seminar!
A request for help: what are your favourite pieces of writing on art? It can be just a sentence, or paragraph, not necessarily an entire essay or book. I'm helping to gather some pieces to share with young people (14–19 yrs old), and have some things already, but am keen to hear what you think too.
July 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposting mostly so I can find; this reading list would make for a great freshman seminar!
Is anyone troubled by the fact that this is standard *fresco* imagery that has been translated to *mosaic*? That is a common practice of forgers (familiar iconography, fancier medium). Non-mythological erotic scenes in mosaics are extremely rare (I know of only 1 other example & it is questionable).
July 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Is anyone troubled by the fact that this is standard *fresco* imagery that has been translated to *mosaic*? That is a common practice of forgers (familiar iconography, fancier medium). Non-mythological erotic scenes in mosaics are extremely rare (I know of only 1 other example & it is questionable).
Horrifying, but NYT fails to mention the sculptor's ties to the KKK and also the desecration this monument represents to the Lakota Sioux at what had been a sacred site. These facts should be part of the conversation whenever we talk about this monument. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Room for One More on Mount Rushmore? (The President Wants to Know.) (Gift Article)
Let’s review how we got here, and closely examine what the rock would allow.
www.nytimes.com
June 29, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Horrifying, but NYT fails to mention the sculptor's ties to the KKK and also the desecration this monument represents to the Lakota Sioux at what had been a sacred site. These facts should be part of the conversation whenever we talk about this monument. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Bubon fans: the Babesch organization kindly published the text of the talk I gave last month in Leiden about the looting and circulation of the statues, in which I also imagined how they might have been arranged and rearranged on the pedestals in antiquity. www.babesch.org/byvanck-lect...
The eighteenth Byvanck lecture – BABESCH
www.babesch.org
June 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Bubon fans: the Babesch organization kindly published the text of the talk I gave last month in Leiden about the looting and circulation of the statues, in which I also imagined how they might have been arranged and rearranged on the pedestals in antiquity. www.babesch.org/byvanck-lect...
Obviously the seller has made a deeply unethical choice, but let's not overlook how unconscionable Sotheby's behavior is here too in agreeing to handle (and legitimize) this sale. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Buddha's sacred jewels head to auction - should they be returned to India?
Buddha’s sacred jewels, unearthed in 1898, head to auction at Sotheby’s, raising ethical concerns.
www.bbc.com
May 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Obviously the seller has made a deeply unethical choice, but let's not overlook how unconscionable Sotheby's behavior is here too in agreeing to handle (and legitimize) this sale. www.bbc.com/news/article...
This statue is back on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art for a few months before its July repatriation to Turkiye. Sadly, the CMA is STILL trying to spin the story, refusing to admit they knew all along ... (1/12) hyperallergic.com/1006670/a-lo...
A Looted Greco-Roman Statue Goes on Display Before Its Return
After a months-long legal battle, the sculpture is on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art ahead of its repatriation to Turkey, with newly added context about its provenance.
hyperallergic.com
May 4, 2025 at 7:26 PM
This statue is back on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art for a few months before its July repatriation to Turkiye. Sadly, the CMA is STILL trying to spin the story, refusing to admit they knew all along ... (1/12) hyperallergic.com/1006670/a-lo...
Looking for a thoughtful essay comparing the current U.S. moment and the end of the Roman Republic. Anyone know of anything? I promised my Roman Art students something along these lines but all I'm finding are lots of facile pieces comparing Trump to Nero.
April 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Looking for a thoughtful essay comparing the current U.S. moment and the end of the Roman Republic. Anyone know of anything? I promised my Roman Art students something along these lines but all I'm finding are lots of facile pieces comparing Trump to Nero.
In this article from 2019, I reminded the Met that its bronze griffin head was stolen from the archaeological museum at Olympia. Their response (included at the end of the article) was simply to sniff that the head "has never been the object of a claim." www.theartnewspaper.com/2019/01/15/t...
The Met’s antiquated views of antiquities need updating
The new Greek and Roman curator at New York’s Metropolitan Museum should rejuvenate its displays with honest, better stories
www.theartnewspaper.com
February 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM
In this article from 2019, I reminded the Met that its bronze griffin head was stolen from the archaeological museum at Olympia. Their response (included at the end of the article) was simply to sniff that the head "has never been the object of a claim." www.theartnewspaper.com/2019/01/15/t...
Cleveland Museum of Art finally admitting what they knew all along and doing the right thing with their statue looted from Bubon manhattanda.org/manhattan-da...
Manhattan DA’s Office Announces Repatriation of Marcus Aurelius Statue to the People of Türkiye
“I am pleased the Cleveland Museum of Art agrees that this statue belongs to the people of Türkiye. This investigation included extensive witness interviews and forensic testing that proved conclusive...
manhattanda.org
February 14, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Cleveland Museum of Art finally admitting what they knew all along and doing the right thing with their statue looted from Bubon manhattanda.org/manhattan-da...
Brilliant essay; well-worth your time. 10 out of 10. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
‘The ghosts are everywhere’: can the British Museum survive its omni-crisis?
Beset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s most visited museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation?
www.theguardian.com
January 17, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Brilliant essay; well-worth your time. 10 out of 10. www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
Important & meticulous corrective by Staffan Lunden on Dan Hicks' much-praised 2020 book _Brutish Museums_ about the 1897 looting of the Benin bronzes. I am among the many who uncritically accepted Hicks' unsubstantiated claims about the staggering ... 1/3 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Distorting history in the restitution debate. Dan Hicks’s The Brutish Museums and fact and fiction in Benin historiography | International Journal of Cultural Property | Cambridge Core
Distorting history in the restitution debate. Dan Hicks’s The Brutish Museums and fact and fiction in Benin historiography
www.cambridge.org
January 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Important & meticulous corrective by Staffan Lunden on Dan Hicks' much-praised 2020 book _Brutish Museums_ about the 1897 looting of the Benin bronzes. I am among the many who uncritically accepted Hicks' unsubstantiated claims about the staggering ... 1/3 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Just dropped: major article on the outrageous "fragments scheme" whereby (evidence suggests) D. von Bothmer, curator @metmuseum1870.bsky.social conspired with antiquities traffickers like Giacomo Medici & Robert Hecht to get around export laws by BREAKING INTACT ANCIENT VASES INTO FRAGMENTS ... 1/3
December 30, 2024 at 5:33 PM
Just dropped: major article on the outrageous "fragments scheme" whereby (evidence suggests) D. von Bothmer, curator @metmuseum1870.bsky.social conspired with antiquities traffickers like Giacomo Medici & Robert Hecht to get around export laws by BREAKING INTACT ANCIENT VASES INTO FRAGMENTS ... 1/3
Here's me doing my favorite thing last week: talking about the looting (and return!) of the Bubon bronzes, a story I have been researching, writing, and speaking about since 2012. www.npr.org/2024/12/08/n... 1/5
A Danish museum agrees to return a bronze sculpture looted from Turkey
A Danish museum has agreed to return the bronze head of a Roman Emperor to Turkey. The sculpture was among thousands of artifacts looted from Turkey and sold to American and European museums. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on Dec. 3, 2024.)
www.npr.org
December 13, 2024 at 2:16 PM
Here's me doing my favorite thing last week: talking about the looting (and return!) of the Bubon bronzes, a story I have been researching, writing, and speaking about since 2012. www.npr.org/2024/12/08/n... 1/5
Gorgeous, new-to-me, 3rd- century gold glass family portrait in the Vatican.
November 27, 2024 at 2:28 AM
Gorgeous, new-to-me, 3rd- century gold glass family portrait in the Vatican.
Reposted by Elizabeth Marlowe
To honor the passing of Colin Renfrew I'm revisiting some of his important work on the illicit antiquities trade over the years.
A thread...
A thread...
November 26, 2024 at 11:47 PM
To honor the passing of Colin Renfrew I'm revisiting some of his important work on the illicit antiquities trade over the years.
A thread...
A thread...
Reposted by Elizabeth Marlowe
An extraordinary story out of Italy: five previously unknown silver objects were intercepted by the Carabinieri. It is claimed that they belong to the same set as the famous Morgantina silver purchased by the Met in 1982. www.archaeoreporter.com/it/2024/11/2... (in Italian)
Argenti del Tesoro di Morgantina recuperati dai carabinieri TPC
Cinque argenti provenienti dal contesto del Tesoro di Morgantina recuperati in un borsone dai carabinieri TPC a Roma
www.archaeoreporter.com
November 25, 2024 at 8:54 PM
An extraordinary story out of Italy: five previously unknown silver objects were intercepted by the Carabinieri. It is claimed that they belong to the same set as the famous Morgantina silver purchased by the Met in 1982. www.archaeoreporter.com/it/2024/11/2... (in Italian)
A haiku for the season's first snowfall:
Branches weighted down
Spring up when the snow slides off,
Scaring the puppy
Branches weighted down
Spring up when the snow slides off,
Scaring the puppy
November 22, 2024 at 4:19 PM
A haiku for the season's first snowfall:
Branches weighted down
Spring up when the snow slides off,
Scaring the puppy
Branches weighted down
Spring up when the snow slides off,
Scaring the puppy
Mesmerizing video footage of (unseen) cryptobros' mass insanity, driving the price to ever more ludicrous heights. The slow pans down the shaft of the banana are the best part.
Banana duct-taped to a wall sells for nearly $10 million at New York auction
Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun bought the viral artwork entitled Comedian by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan for $9.57 million.
www.sbs.com.au
November 21, 2024 at 5:09 PM
Mesmerizing video footage of (unseen) cryptobros' mass insanity, driving the price to ever more ludicrous heights. The slow pans down the shaft of the banana are the best part.
Intact Etruscan tomb group, very nearly dispersed by looters.
Exceptional Etruscan sarcophagi, urns seized from looters – The History Blog
www.thehistoryblog.com
November 20, 2024 at 11:11 AM
Intact Etruscan tomb group, very nearly dispersed by looters.
Please art historians: someone do some sort of commentary on all the special rings, knives, jars, locks, etc that function almost like characters in the movie Conclave. The plot is whatever but that movie is a feast of material culture in action!
November 17, 2024 at 1:03 PM
Please art historians: someone do some sort of commentary on all the special rings, knives, jars, locks, etc that function almost like characters in the movie Conclave. The plot is whatever but that movie is a feast of material culture in action!
Added a photo of some of the looted Roman statues I work on to my profile and got a "non-sexual nudity" label slapped on my account. Fair I guess?
November 16, 2024 at 12:57 PM
Added a photo of some of the looted Roman statues I work on to my profile and got a "non-sexual nudity" label slapped on my account. Fair I guess?
I bought this painting at a flea market in Berkeley in 2000. It is called "Water Dwellers." The artist is Chui Faising, who died in 2022. He painted it in 1970. Just sharing because I think it's beautiful.
November 16, 2024 at 12:13 PM
I bought this painting at a flea market in Berkeley in 2000. It is called "Water Dwellers." The artist is Chui Faising, who died in 2022. He painted it in 1970. Just sharing because I think it's beautiful.
The problem is that we have no idea how many of these are already out there circulating on the market. And with the closure of IFAR earlier this year, there is no reliable, disinterested body that can do the work of ferreting them out.
2,100 Fakes Rounded Up in Art Forgeries Bust
Italian officials said they had dismantled a Europe-wide network of forgers and dealers selling works purported to be by A-list artists, mostly through auction houses.
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2024 at 1:19 PM
The problem is that we have no idea how many of these are already out there circulating on the market. And with the closure of IFAR earlier this year, there is no reliable, disinterested body that can do the work of ferreting them out.