GOODWILL STATUE SOLD FOR $35 TURNS OUT TO BE 2000-YEAR-OLD ROMAN BUST
Although we've heard of some intriguing purchases from charity stores, Laura Young's tale could surpass them all. In 2018, while browsing a Goodwill in Texas, Young—who has been selling antiques for almost ten years—found something that drew her attention. There was an interesting marble bust hidden behind a table. It was priced at $34.99 and weighed almost fifty pounds. Even though this was more than Young typically spent at Goodwill, she went with her gut and bought it. What transpired next was amazing.
Young was intrigued by the marble bust and started contacting specialists to learn more about its past. Her hypothesis that this statue was unique was eventually validated by Sotheby's. A Roman bust from the Julio-Claudian era, which dates to the first century CE, was sitting in her living room, according to their consultant. Young was astonished to learn the news, even though she had thought the sculpture looked Roman.
However, how did a piece of antiquity like this travel to Texas across the ocean? Scholars cannot agree on who the bust depicts, but they can all agree on where it came from. It was previously part of the collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who ruled from 1825 until 1848, according to records. He possessed a sizable collection of antiques and loved the arts.
In Aschaffenburg, Germany, he even built a replica of a Pompeii villa. This portrait bust was previously kept in what was known as the Pompeiianum until World War II. The Allied Forces bombed Pompeiianum in 1944. It is thought that military personnel were free to enter and exit the Pompeiianum since it was not guarded. We don't know how it got to the US, but we do know that the bust vanished after that before reappearing in Austin in 2018.
Stephennie Mulder, an art historian at the University of Texas at Austin, says, "We know that many of the pieces were either destroyed in the Allied bombing campaign or looted thereafter." "Unfortunately, in this instance, it may have been a U.S. soldier who either bought it from someone who had stolen it or stole it himself."
Young informed the German government about the stolen artwork as soon as she was able to confirm the provenance of the Goodwill bust. Young's treasure was loaned to the San Antonio Museum of Art when arrangements were made for its repatriation to Bavaria. Before going back to Europe, it will be on exhibit at the museum until May 2023.
Young remarked, "I felt he deserved to be seen and examined because he had been concealed for 70 to 80 years." She can't help but miss the sculpture, which has been a part of her life for many years, even though she's glad the public can see the bust. She thought, "I liked him." "There at the front door of our house, I became attached to him. His reflection was visible on the TV. He integrated himself into the home."