An erotic mosaic looted during World War II by a Nazi officer has been returned to Pompeii, almost 80 years after its theft. The mosaic dates from between the late first century BC and early first century AD.
The piece, which depicts a pair of lovers, was stolen in 1944 by a German army captain responsible for military supplies in occupied Italy. He gifted it to a German civilian, whose family retained the artefact for decades. In 2023, the heirs contacted Italy’s Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit (TPC) in Rome to return the artwork.
After confirming the mosaic’s authenticity and its link to the Vesuvian region, Italian authorities repatriated it from Germany through diplomatic channels. The Italian Consulate in Stuttgart facilitated its return.
General Francesco Gargaro, head of the Carabinieri’s TPC Unit, presented the mosaic to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Zuchtriegel called the return “a healing of an open wound” and praised the change in mindset shown by the heirs.
The panel, crafted on travertine slabs, is a work of exceptional cultural value. “It is the moment when the theme of domestic love becomes an artistic subject,” Zuchtriegel said. Unlike the mythological themes popular in earlier Hellenistic art, this mosaic reflects everyday human intimacy in Roman life.
Shift in attitude to looted art
Despite limited data about its original context, experts were able to trace the piece back to the Pompeii area with help from the archaeological park’s Office for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage. The erotic mosaic is now secure in Pompeii, where it will be available for research and education.
Zuchtriegel noted that the voluntary return reflects a broader shift in public attitudes toward looted art. “The sense of possession becomes a heavy burden,” he said. He also referenced the so-called “Pompeii curse” — a long-standing superstition that stolen artefacts bring misfortune. Over the years, numerous visitors have returned pieces taken from the site, blaming thefts for their bad luck.
