Emperor Caligula s Mosaic Recovered in Italy albawaba.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from albawaba.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The red, green and white mosaic was recovered from Lake Nemi, Italy, in 1929
It was made around 37–40AD for the bridge of one of Caligula s floating palaces
The boats were torched in WWII, but the mosaic survived until vanishing in 1955
A chance identification led to it being found in the home of a Manhattan couple
Mrs and Mr Fioratti said they bought it in good faith before taking it to the US
After being seized in 2017, the mosaic table is now on display back at Lake Nemi
Multi-coloured mosaic that adorned a vast pleasure barge 2,000 years ago finally returned home
11 March 2021 • 6:02pm
The mosaic decorated the bridge of one of two barges that were recovered from the bottom of the lake between 1929 and 1932
Credit: Lucia LB. Bianco
For centuries, it lay in the mud on the bed of a volcanic lake in Italy, before being dredged up in an operation ordered by Mussolini, and then illegally exported to the United States, where it ended up being used for decades as a coffee table in a Manhattan apartment.
After a distinctly chequered history, a multi-coloured mosaic that adorned a vast pleasure barge built for the despotic and possibly psychotic emperor Caligula 2,000 years ago finally returned home on Thursday.