A trove of artifacts recovered from the black market goes on display in Naples

NAPLES, Italy — Hundreds of once-missing artifacts, hunted down over decades by a special police unit, have been unveiled for the first time in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, in southern Italy.

In its vaults, the museum preserves 15,000 artifacts seized or confiscated from the black market over the years by a police unit focused on the protection of cultural heritage. It is the loot of raiders who for decades have targeted sites from classical antiquity in southern Italy, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some even used underwater metal detectors, GPS, sonar and drones to extract treasures from the shipwrecks and archaeological sites submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.

From its repository, the museum selected 600 pieces to display for visitors. Among them is a statue that had been in an apartment building’s courtyard since the early 20th century until its theft in the 1980s, and which was found in 2009. There are artifacts from Pompeii that a French archaeologist bought from a local farmer in the 1990s for 50,000 lire (about $28 today). There are also ancient ceramics, coins, bronzes, marbles, pottery, furnishings, weapons and armor dating from the Archaic Period (approximately 650 to 480 BC) to the Middle Ages.

“It is a beautiful exhibition that tells a beautiful story, a story also of redemption for our stolen archaeological artifacts, which often find their way into private property or even international museums,” Massimo Osanna, the head of national museums at Italy’s culture ministry, who helped curate the exhibition, said in an interview. “Thanks to the work of the public prosecutor’s office and the police, together with the ministry, (these artifacts) are finally coming home and to light.”

In 2023, the latest year for which there are complete records, the police unit recovered over 100,000 artifacts which it estimates are worth a total 264 million euros ($299 million).