Debate over the sale of Caligula's ring and private ownership of artefacts

Meanwhile, I observe a debate flaring up over the sale of Caligula's ring, to the effect that such objects ought to belong to museums rather than to private persons. I simply cannot see what the quarrel is about, given that the piece at present belongs to a private person, who acquired it from another private person, who bought it from yet another private person. The owner is putting his property up for sale, and everyone interested is free to buy it. If some museum finds such an artefact of interest for its collection, then by all means, the bidding is open to all. Or do the champions of the museum transfer wish to confiscate treasures from private persons in favour of museums? Or to forbid the free sale of rare and unique objects with a historical past? What is the point of the discussion, gentlemen? Have you all gone completely cuckoo?

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Debate over the sale of Caligula's ring and private ownership of artefacts

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s