Cleveland fights order to return ancient sculpture

In August, a New York judge had ordered the return of this priceless headless sculpture from a Cleveland museum (see post below). The museum is now suing to have that order dismissed. The museum contests the Turkish claims it was a statue of Marcus Aurelius that originated in Turkey. In fact, the museum states the statue was much older (150-200 BCE) and probably is not of Turkish origin. Experts have suggested that the sculpture is, instead, of Sophocles, the Greek writer of tragedies..

The sculpture remains in Cleveland but is “seized in state.”

https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2023/10/cleveland-museum-of-art-sues-new-york-district-attorney-over-seizure-of-statue-valued-at-20-million.html?outputType=amp

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/cleveland-museum-lawsuit-sculpture-2381754/amp-page