Art without Context: The “Morgantina Goddess”, a Classical Cult Statue from Sicily between Old and New Mythology

The Morgantina Goddess, a 5th century BC statue that was stolen/returned to Sicily, is a worldwide symbol of looted art. It is thought to have been excavated illegally in 1977 from the ruins of the 5th to 1st century BC town of Morgantina in Sicily. It was acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1987 and returned to Italy in May 2011. The fame for her recent history has replaced her old mythology and many archeological questions are still unanswered, such as: no other close comparable cult statue, dating back to 450–00 BC, is present in Sicily; neither pedestal nor temple, which could have hosted the statue in antiquity, has yet been discovered in over 60 years of excavations in Morgantina; its identity as a young goddess or a mature one (Aphrodite-Kore or Demeter-Hera) should be evaluated under the optical corrections offered by the final position and height on its (missing) pedestal inside the (missing) temple. As a matter of fact, although everything possible has been said about the statue’s whereabouts, the matter is high: what and why has the current archaeological research accepted as sound information from the looters? Should we admit a risk of a “fabrication of history”? These questions and many others might risk that unsupported ‘factoids’ swiftly add on to the “new mythology” related to her recent manipulated history. For these reasons, the Morgantina Goddess represents an important case study on strategies to be adopted on antiquities deprived of their context by the criminal network.