A 2,000-year-old Roman bust is being sent back to its home in Germany after being bought at a Goodwill in Texas.
Laura Young is an art collector who looks for “unexpected or undervalued artworks and antiques,” according to the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Young found the bust on the floor under a table at a Goodwill near Austin, Texas, listed for a price of $34.99, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Following the purchase, Young began to search for the origin of the piece after noticing some of the wear and tear on it. Young said she saw some key elements to the sculpture that she thought were indications it might be older than initially thought.
“I got it outside in the light,” said Young, per The New York Times. “He had chips to the base. He had clear repairs. He looks old. I’ve been to museums. I’ve seen Roman portrait heads before.”
After talking with experts, it was discovered that the bust previously belonged to King Ludwig I of Bavaria and disappeared after World War II, as reported by The Dallas Express. The figure was kept in the Pompejanum, which was King Ludwig’s full-scale replica villa from Pompeii in his courtyard.
Currently being displayed at the San Antonio Museum of Art, the sculpture is expected to be sent back home to Germany on May 21, 2023, per Business Insider. Young said she felt responsible for the bust, saying she did not want it to continue along on the mysterious journey that brought it to Austin.
“Immediately, I was like, ‘OK, I cannot keep him and I also cannot sell him,’” said Young, per The New York Times. “It was extremely bittersweet, to say the least. But I only have control over what I can control, and art theft, looting during a war, is a war crime. I can’t be a party to it.”
The president of the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens, and Lakes, Bernd Schreiber, said he is excited to return the piece to Bavaria and offered thanks to the San Antonio Museum of Art.
“We are very pleased that a piece of Bavarian history that we thought was lost has reappeared and will soon be able to return to its rightful location. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the San Antonio Museum of Art for their support in returning the ancient portrait,” said Schreiber, per the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Once returned to Germany, the piece will either be put on display at the original location at the Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg or join the rest of King Ludwig’s collection at the Munich Glyptothek, per Business Insider. Young said that although she is sad to see the piece leave Texas, she looks forward to her next intriguing discovery.
“It’s hard a little bit because this is probably going to be the coolest thing I ever find, and it’s over,” Young said, per The New York Times. “But there’s always something else to find. If you’re an antiques dealer, there’s always something else.”
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