After learning that the Indian sculptures were smuggled, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has declared that it will return 15 of them. Subhash Kapoor, an Indian-American antiquities smuggler who has been convicted, sold all of the paintings. Interpol apprehended Kapoor in Germany in 2011; he is being detained in India.
The artifacts span in antiquity from the 1st century BCE to the 11th century CE, according to the Indian Express, and include the more than $1 million-worth sandstone Celestial Dancer (Apsara) from Madhya Pradesh and the Yakshi Terracotta from West Bengal.
A ceramic pitcher from Chandraketugarh, a stone bust of Kamadeva, the God of Love, from the second half of the 8th century C.E., and a Svetambara enthroned Jina is also included on the list, which also includes works made of terracotta, copper, and stone.
Prosecutors in Manhattan charged the disgraced art dealer in 2019 with stealing and having antiquities valued at millions of dollars over a 30-year period. A Tamil Nadu court sentenced Kapoor to 10 years in prison in November 2022.
The statement read, "The Met contacted Homeland Security about its works from Kapoor in 2015 and is pleased to be acting on this matter today as a result of the criminal investigation into Subhash Kapoor by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office."
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