Painting of John the Prophet and Princess Salome was seized from historical artifact smugglers as a result of the operation carried out by the police teams in Tokat. Experts who examined the painting determined that it was real. Action will be taken against the 4 suspects formerly detained in the operation.
Police teams continue their struggle to not turn a blind eye to historical artifact smugglers across Turkey. The fact that the painting of John the Prophet which the teams seized in the operation carried out in Tokat, was original, alarmed the authorities. The detainees will be re-investigated and the artifact will be brought to the museum.
IT WILL BE AVAILABLE AT TOKAT MUSEUM
In Tokat, police teams followed 4 suspects who came to the city from Istanbul with a report of historical artifact smuggling on 16th June 2020.
It was determined that the arrested suspects brought a painting depicting Princess Salome and John the Prophet together. The work, dated 1881 and signed by M. Berntzwiller, was sent to Hacettepe University to be examined by the police teams. After the art work was examined by the experts of the Department of Western Art and Contemporary Art at the Faculty of Literature, it was decided to be the original. The work, which was taken under protection at the Tokat Museum, will be presented to art lovers.
” CULTURAL VALUE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MATERIAL VALUE.”
Stating that there is a lot of historical artifact smuggling in Turkey, Adem Çakır, the Director of Tokat Provincial Culture and Tourism said: ” Unrealistic prices on the values of historical artifacts causes the formation of legends, and we have low-income citizens especially who follow these legends. First of all, I would like to mention that cultural values are more important than material value. Because it is not always possible to reach the original work. The original and pure details in this table are instrumental in bringing explanations to the life, religion, belief and tradition of that day. Therefore, it is not the material value of this painting, but its cultural value that is essential.”
Thanking the law enforcement officers fighting against historical artifact smuggling, Çakır continued: “They have achieved significant success both in Turkey and in Tokat province. There is a constant flow of artifacts to our museum. People unknowingly spend all their time, effort and assets in pursuit of dreams. They should not believe in legends. They should bring what they find to the museum. Please share these art works with us. The government will pay for your efforts. We will be the means in presenting the precious art works with art lovers in our museum.”
On the other hand, the suspects who were detained in relation to the incident last year, S.A., E.A., M.D. and A.D. were released by the court after the proceedings. It was stated that after it was determined that the painting was original, another investigation will be started.
DHA
