The story begins, as stories do in all good thrillers, with a botched robbery and a police chase. Eight Apuleian vases of the fourth century B.C. are discovered in the swimming pool of a German-based art smuggler. More valuable than the recovery of the vases, however, is the discovery of the smuggler's card index detailing his deals and dealers. It reveals the existence of a web of tombaroli—tomb raiders— who steal classical artifacts, and a network of dealers and smugglers who spirit them out of Italy and into the hands of wealthy collectors and museums. Peter Watson, a former investigative journalist for the London Sunday Times and author of two previous exposés of art world scandals, names the key figures in this network that has depleted Europe's classical artifacts. Among the loot are the irreplaceable and highly collectable vases of Euphronius, the equivalent in their field of the sculpture of Bernini or the painting of Michelangelo. The narrative leads to the doors of some major institutions: Sothebys, the Getty Museum in L.A., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York among them. Filled with great characters and human drama, The Medici Conspiracy authoritatively exposes another shameful round in one of the oldest games in the world: theft, smuggling and duplicitous dealing, all in the name of art.
Important, interesting subject, worth slogging through imperfect writing This book is fascinating and important reading for anyone interested in the intersections of the art world, commerce and crime. The Medici Conspiracy is not the most deftly written, and at times seems more like a very, very, very long newspaper story than a book. Yet in the end the sheer force of the information it compiles, with detail and comprehension of the larger picture, leads to confidence in its conclusion: It is impossible to build, in modern times, a great collection of quality antiquities without relying chiefly on, and feeding and sustaining, unlawful traffic in looted items. The archeological countries also are at fault: If you leave hugely valuable items in the ground, and don't invest in excavating them under secure, academically and legally sound conditions, it is inevitable that illicit looters will do it for you.
Fascinating but a little information overload This book is a well written, well researched book about looted antiquities. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject, or anyone interested in looted art in general. If I have any complaint, it is that the book at times gives too much information, which slows down the pace of the narrative as the author reveals how the investigation of Medici, Robert Hecht, Robin Symes, Marion True, and others came to pass.
Great topic, well researched, choppy reading at times. I give this book a definite four stars because it is a worthy representation of the story and gives the account of what happened with great zeal. The topic itself is fascinating. In my opinion, various Federal Art/Cultural Property Crime units would be well served by making this book mandatory reading for their agents. It stands as a clear insight into the dark realm of unlawful antiquities excavation, illicit smuggling and clandestine sale- an increasingly important issue in our "global economy" world where buyers and sellers can come together across oceans with little effort, and without regard to laws that may govern certain antiquities transactions.
At times, it reads a bit choppy. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the authors were careful to include all pertinent data, instead of sacrificing the volume of fact for the sake of the story. I almost feel bad detracting a star for this, but if you're going to sell a book as a story rather than an academic study, I do believe certain concessions should be made for ease of reading.
Nevertheless, still a great book, well worth purchasing. This book will probably become one of the classics on the topic of art smuggling and the attendant markets.
Great Book Have been waiting for some time to read this book, and I really enjoyed it. Of course I like art-related mysteries and other stories anyway. I'll be looking for other titles by this author.
Medici Conspiracy is amazing! The Medici Conspiracy by Peter Watson is an amazing account, thoroughly researched, beautifully written, with marvelous photographs. It is literally a fascinating mystery, revealed and solved. I applaud the Italians and commend Oscar White Muscarella for his life-long good fight.
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