Culture Minister Mendoni receives bronze griffin head returned by MET Museum in New York

Hellenic Culture Minister Lina Mendoni attended a special ceremony organised by the Metropolitan Museum in New York for the return of an ancient Greek bronze griffin from MET director and CEO Max Hollein, the culture ministry announced on Tuesday, 25 February 2025.

The griffin from Ancient Olympia, a decoration from a cauldron dated to 650-625 B.C., had been prominently on display in the MET’s Greek and Roman antiquities collection until Monday. It is returning to Greece following “lengthy and systematic cooperation” between the culture ministry and the museum, the announcement said.

The minister, in her address, noted that the specific repatriation was particularly important as it was not the result of a demand made by the Greek authorities. On the contrary, the MET itself, in 2018, undertook to investigate the provenance of the griffin head, which had been part of the Greek and Roman antiquities collection since the early 1970s following a private donation.

Lina Mendoni emphasised that “this act is a testament to the Museum’s commitment to scientific integrity, professional ethics and respect for cultural heritage. It also reflects a broader shift in museum practices worldwide – which emphasises due diligence – in assessing not only the legality but also the ethical basis of their collections. This dynamic approach, which we are pleased to see gaining momentum in leading cultural institutions, recognises the importance of honest and constructive collaborations between Museums and Organisations that manage cultural heritage. Greece is among the countries whose cultural treasures have been stolen and illegally trafficked. I firmly believe that all antiquities that have been illegally removed from any country must be returned to their birthplace and to their rightful owners, as an essential part of their collective identity.”

In his opening remarks, MET Director Max Hollein described the repatriation as “a very special moment for the collaboration between the MET and the Ministry of Culture” and emphasised: “It is a very important repatriation of one of the most emblematic exhibits of the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities. It is the bronze griffin head, which we investigated, examined and concluded that it did not legally leave its country of origin, Greece. The collaboration between the MET and the Greek Ministry of Culture is based on the shared belief in international cooperation in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage.”

The investigation by the competent Directorate for Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property of the Ministry of Culture in the Archives of the Archaeological Service proved beyond any doubt that the head of the griffin in the MET is identical to the one that had been found in Ancient Olympia, in December 1914, by the curator of the Museum, Themistokles Karachalios. The ancient artifact had been located in the bed of the Kladeos River, next to the ancient Gymnasium of Olympia, in soil that had been washed away by the river and had been delivered by the curator to the Museum of Ancient Olympia, where it was cleaned.

The first publication of the ancient head with photographic documentation was in 1915, in the Archaeological Bulletin, the official publication of the Archaeological Service. According to the archival material identified by the competent Directorate, the griffin head was stolen in the 1930s from the Museum, where it remained unrecorded until then. The first mention of its loss occurs in 1937-1938, in the annual report of the German excavators of Olympia. In 1940, the Archaeological Service investigated the case of the theft, which appears to have occurred in 1936, and took appropriate action against the persons responsible for the safekeeping of the collections during that period.

The corresponding research in the MET archives confirmed the time of the head’s theft, as it appears that it was sold in the summer of 1936 by a Greek antiquities dealer to the American antiquities dealer J. Brummer, to be subsequently sold, in 1948, to W. C. Baker, and to end up, following a donation, in 1971, along with the other objects of the Baker Collection, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The ceremony was attended by the Consul General of Greece in New York, Ms. Ifigenia Kanara, the Councillor of the State Legal Council, Ms. Efthymia Garani, the General Director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Ms. Anastasia Gadolou, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, Mr. Georgios Tsaprounis, the Director of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Goods of the Ministry of Culture, Ms. Vaso Papageorgiou, and the Head of the Department of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Goods, Ms. Elena Vlachogianni.