Germany has returned a Roman mosaic to Italy that a Nazi officer stole from Pompeii during World War II. The mosaic, depicting a partially naked man and woman, is almost two thousand years old.
The artwork arrived in Pompeii on Tuesday. “The return feels like an open wound that is healing,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii archaeological park, at the handover.
Eighty years ago, a German officer took the mosaic home. Later, he gave it as a gift to a German citizen, who kept the work until his death.
The heirs of that person realized where the mosaic came from. They contacted the police unit in Rome responsible for the protection of cultural heritage. They first verified the authenticity of the work. Then, the Italian consulate in Stuttgart arranged the transfer.
According to Zuchtriegel, the mosaic depicts “domestic love.” The work will initially be placed in the museum at Pompeii and will be further investigated later.
Pompeii also has numerous erotic sculptures and murals on display. Pompeii was once a thriving city with about 13,000 inhabitants. The city was buried under volcanic ash in 79 AD by the eruption of Vesuvius. The city was rediscovered in the sixteenth century.