A rare Cycladic figurine, slightly less than 20 cm high, consisting not of one, but of two parts, the so-called “complex of statuettes”, is a curious sight. Two female figures with crossed arms, the smaller one on the head of the larger one. Is it a mother and her child? Two deities, one emerging from the head of the other? Scientists cannot give a definite answer. The only thing that is certain is that there are two more in the world similar to the complete figurine presented at the Turning exhibition of the Museum of Cycladic Art: one in the museum in Karlsruhe and the other in a private collection.

The double figurine is one of 15 items in the Stern Collection, which will be in the Athens Museum for one year under a special agreement signed by the Foreign Office and the Metropolitan Museum of New York and approved by Parliament. In November 2023, they will travel to the US to present a collection of a total of 161 antiquities at the American Museum for 10 years. The figurines will be in America, but will belong to Greece, and in a decade their gradual repatriation to Greek museums will begin. Which museums? “When the YPPO makes a decision after the conclusion of the KAS,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in response to Q, adding that since a Museum of Cycladic Culture is being created on Naxos, “it is very likely that Naxos will be where they end up.” .

In three halls where antiquities are presented, visitors will see figurines dating back to 3200 BC. before 2300 BC Among other things, a Neolithic statuette of a female figure, a vase (cantila) with an oblique engraving, unique in Greece and abroad, an impressive vessel in the shape of a saucepan, a statuette 86 cm high, one of the few in the world that deviates from the usual height, and a box with decor in the form of a spiral. “Perhaps the oldest spiral in the prehistoric Aegean,” said exhibition curator and archaeologist Ioannis Fappas.

The uncertainty in the archaeologist’s statement also testifies to the great loss of such a collection, which comes from the antiquities trade and not from scientific excavations: the lack of archaeological information that would give the figurines their historical identity, and not just their consideration as works of art. . The figurines of the collection were classified on the basis of international literature and their typological characteristics. When asked about the authenticity of the figurines, Ms. Mendoni noted that “how someone concludes the authenticity of something can be the subject of many years of research”, and therefore added that “in repatriation, authenticity is not examined”, as this also happened with the Steinhart antiquities that returned to Greece.

The agreement provoked a reaction from the opposition and archaeologists, who accused the Ministry of Antiquities of “legalizing antiquities”. The Association of Greek Archaeologists has demanded an investigation from the competent prosecutor’s office, alleging that some of the figurines are linked to illegal traders such as the Italian Bekina. Ms. Mendoni reiterated that the competent authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not identified any of the 161 figurines with the “stolen” files and the Bekin file in its possession.

A center for the study and study of Cycladic culture will also be established at the Naxos Museum with the aim of studying the origin and authenticity of the Cycladic works found in museum collections around the world. In this way, the double figurine, like the rest of the collection, will acquire its own individuality.