Blog

Aug 02, 2023

Roman treasures rescued from den of British antiques trafficker

Propped against a wall atop a wooden crate, the ancient Roman painting of a

Propped against a wall atop a wooden crate, the ancient Roman painting of a temple drew curious stares from experts in Rome.

"End of the second century AD, start of the third, ripped from a wall in a villa in southern Italy would be my guess," said one.

On the side of the crate someone had written the name of the man who might know the answer: Robin Symes, the 84-year-old disgraced British antiques trafficker who stashed the painting in a warehouse on the outskirts of London until a month ago.

Now the artefact is back in Rome, part of a collection of 821 items worth €12 million that were recovered from Symes, who has been accused of pillaging Italy's most precious buried treasures for