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A 1,600-year-old missing mosaic finally returned home to Cyprus, more than four decades after being looted in a church during the Turkish occupation.
The mosaic of the sixth century was stolen from the Panaya Kanakaria church in northern Cyprus as a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974. It was one of many icons looted in the church and considered the latest found.
The Dutch art detective Arthur Brand poses with the missing mosaic of St. Mark, a rare piece of Byzantine art stolen in Cyprus. Credit: JAN HENNOP / AFP / AFP / Getty Images
It was the hunt of a lifetime for Brand and the one who drove it across Europe, where "informants were arrested in unrelated cases" and where "people were scared and disappeared, "he said in a message posted on his website.
The brand managed to find the mosaic in an apartment of a British family in Monaco "horrified" to discover that the object was a looted treasure.
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"He belonged to a British family who had bought the mosaic in good faith over forty years ago," he told AFP.
According to the owner, the owner has agreed to return the work of art to Cyprus and has been offered a symbolic allowance to take care over the years.
The brand is a well-known figure in the world of artistic crime. He has found more than 200 works of art, including ancient Aztec artifacts, antique porcelain plaques and many paintings looted by the Nazis.
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Scroll down the gallery for other examples of lost and found works. Credit:
Duane Tinkey / DSM MagazineThe mosaic of St. Mark, allegedly made around 550 AD, was one of many that adorned the walls of Panaya Kanakaria Church, located about 65 km northeast of the Cypriot capital. , Nicosia.
