Authorities Seize $20M 'Marcus Aurelius' Statue from Cleveland Museum in Looting Investigation

The Manhattan district attorney's office has seized a headless bronze statue believed to represent the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius from the Cleveland Museum of Art as part of an ongoing investigation into a smuggling network involving looted antiquities from Turkey. The statue, valued at $20 million and approximately 1,800 years old, is said to have been stolen in the 1960s from an archaeological site in Bubon, Turkey. Turkish officials have been claiming ownership of the statue, which the museum had previously referred to as a depiction of Marcus Aurelius but now calls "Draped Male Figure." The museum states that it takes provenance issues seriously and reviews claims responsibly.