Empress’s head found 30 years on

Published on 19/10/2012 00:00

The head of an ancient Roman statue thought to be the mother of Emperor Nero has been recovered after being missing for decades, police said yesterday.

The funerary piece was stolen between 25 and 30 years ago from Pompeii, the Roman town that was buried when Vesuvius erupted in AD79 and which is now one of Italy’s most famous ancient sites.

“It is impossible to estimate its value in monetary terms, but it is of notable cultural and historical interest,” Italian police captain Rocco Papaleo, who led the investigation, said.

The statue dates from between 100BC and AD50 and was found after an investigation into the art market by the military police of Piacenza in northern Italy.

The Department of Culture and Archaeology in Parma said the head was probably that of Agrippina the Younger. The whereabouts of the rest of the statue is unknown.

Her son Nero was famed for brutality. Some accounts claim it was Nero who had her killed.

Police said the terracotta head had been hidden for years by a dentist in Parma, who couldn’t sell it because it was too famous a theft. The head was recovered after the 62-year-old tried to sell it through a 36-year-old antiques dealer from Piacenza, who accidentally alerted police as he tried to find a buyer.

Both men have now been charged with receipt and possession of archaeological treasure.