Sacred and Stolen
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apartment change, 24–25
Bucharest Romanians, cynicism, 27
IREX fellowship/residency, 20–21
paranoia, 23
spying, 22–23
visit/stay, 20–23
Roozemond, Robert, 68, 72
appraisals, writing, 137
commerce, emphasis, 74
Ross, Marvin, 33–34, 64
Byzantine artifacts, examination, 35
death, 34
personal notes, understanding, 38
Rousseau, Henri, 213
Russell, John, 71, 100
S
Saint Francis, painted hand (kissing), 107
Saint Peter icon, 63–65, 261–262
Chatzidakis permission, 158–159
image, power, 65–66
inscription, absence, 64
name, removal (reason), 73–74
panel size, 65–67
sale, willingness, 66
theft, 75
transaction, gray areas, 75
van Rijn infatuation, 126
Weitzmann description, 70
Sallman, Warner, 1
Sarbanes, Paul, 245, 258
Saturday Evening Post, The, 132
Savior-scenario news release, 129
Savo (evidence), 164–165
Schaefer, William Donald, 254
Schechter, Solomon, 235, 236
Schlumberger Brot, 43–45
Schlumberger, Gustave, 45
Schmoke, Kurt, 176, 186
Scholar exchanges, IREX support, 20
Scholarly bias, 99–100
Schultz, Fred, 267
Securitate agents
arrival, 24
identification, 21–22
perception, 29
Security in Byzantium exhibition, 46, 70
installation, completion, 50
Self-censorship, 200
Self-expression, entitlement (sense), 200–201
Sellers, Kate, 172, 178
Serrano, Andres, 199, 200
Seyon, Fere, 168
Shapira, Ian, 274, 276
painting theft, media coverage, 274–275
Sharadze, Guram, 218
Shedlov, Abraham, 4
Sheikh Ibada, Coptic discoveries, 56
dispute, 58
fakes, 56–57
Sherman, Cindy, 199
Shevardnadze, Eduard (“Silver Fox”), 208–213
apology, 230
attention, 208–209, 217
letter of capitulation, 229
Shorr, Daniel, 208
Shrine of Saint Simeon Stylites, 283
Shroud of Turin, 204
Siege of Corinth, The (Byron), 164
Silver Treasure from Early Byzantium exhibition, 100–103, 201–202, 277–278
quest/success, 168, 262
Sion Treasure, 261–262
discovery, 42
Sisley exhibition, 191
“Sistine Chapel of the East,” 27
Skulpturengalerie, 56
Slab of the Anointment, 108
Small, Mario (meeting), 9
Smith, Jim, 251, 259
Smithsonian Resident Associates Program, 54
Sotheby’s, representation, 248
Southcote-Ashton, Joan, 32
Spiritual message, evocation, 10
Staff-driven vandalism, commonness, 123–124
Stalin, Josef, 213
Stanley, Bill, 86–89
embarrassment, 90
Starnes, Thomas, 127–129
State Museum of Georgia, 216
damage, 212
Stella, Frank, 199
Steven Scott Gallery, 198
Stigmata of Saint Francis, The (El Greco), 107
Stinehour Press, 16
Stolen art, Hopps perspective, 127–128
Stoop, Dingeman, 65–66
Strada Spătarului, 22, 24, 25
Stravinsky, Igor, 58
Strozzi, Bernardo, 198–199
Sullivan, Martin, 246–247
Syrian antiquities, UN trade ban, 281–282
T
Tamada (toasts), 215–216
Tbilisi, 213
demonstrations, 217–218
Temple, Dick, 72
Temple Gallery, 72
Testa, Adena, 189
director, Walters selection, 195–196
Teteriatnikov, Vladimir, 70–71
Thatcher, John, 43
Theodore, Ted, 120–122
Theodosian Dynasty, 59
Theodosian renaissance, 60
“Theology in color,” 101
Thirteen Towns, The, 82, 194
Vikan, editor, 5–6
work, 6
Thompson, Dodge, 198–199
Titian, 3
interaction, 8
Transparency, 270
Tretyakov Gallery, 70–71
True, Marion, 139, 268
Ţuică (alcohol), usage, 26
Tyler, William R., 34
U
UNESCO, 89
Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, 267
United States Information Agency (USIA), 209, 224
Unseen, belief (absurdity), 7
U.S. Common Law, usage, 144, 264
UV Plexiglas cases, security (absence), 115–116, 119
V
van der Weyden, Rogier, 168
van Eyck, Jan, 11
van Gogh, Vincent, 253
van Mehren, Arthur, 144
sales, principles, 144–145
van Rijn, Michel, 66, 68, 125
actions, impact, 163
commerce, emphasis, 74
Goldberg friendship, 138
greed, 163–164
scheme, 148
stolen works sale, 68
Vassiliou, George, 165
Venus with a Mirror (Titian), 1–3
Veronica Veil, 223
Victor, Mary Jane, 45–46, 94–96
Hopps anger, impact, 97
Vikan, Betsey, 5
Vikan, Bonnie, 6
Vikan, Dean, 6
anger, 3
description, 1–3
Vikan family, description, 4–5
Vikan, Franklin, 5, 192
death, 193
drinking, problem, 6
obituary, update, 194–195
Vikan, Gail, 6
Vikan, Gary, 87
masterpiece, access (tip), 97
American Embassy, press
conference (problems/hostility), 221
Evriviades advocate, 157–158
brother (Ethiopian contingent)
apology insistence, 180–181
communication, 176–177
conference, 178
CPAC resignation, 250
curator, perspective, 191–192
directorship, possibility, 192–195
Ethiopian Ambassador, communication, 179
Georgian official visit, 217–220
Greek protection, 158
leadership role, 187–188
Starnes trial request, 129
testimony, 140–141
Vikan doctrine, 270
Vikan, Knut Knutson, 5
Vikan, Linda, 6, 193
Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (Murillo), 200
Vogel, Carol, 187
von Hapsburg, Géza, 139, 145
deposition, 160–161
interview, 161
von Sternberg, Josef, 37
Voroneţ, 27
Vryonis, Speros, 71
W
Wall Street Journal, The, 148
Walsh, John, 268
Walters Art Museum
Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs position, 99–100
change, 93, 187
Charles Street Building, reopening, 257–258
Curator of Medieval Art position, 99–100
curatorship, 77, 90
directorship
possibility, 192–195
public failure, 207
exhibition, scale (impact), 112
fakes, entry, 53
FBI investigation, 118–119
free admission, effort/press conference, 251–252
general admission fee
elimination, complication, 254–255
fears, 255–256
Georgian National Exhibition, opening, 208–209
going free
announcement, 259
idea, 254–255
heist, 113–116
guard, apprehension, 121–122
inside job, question, 118
insurance loss, 122
Library, 92
public mission, 91–92
public relations, disaster, 117–118
regret package, 279
security, increase, 123–124
Testa, director selection, 195–196
Vikan, future (problems), 191
visitors, behavior (expectations), 256–257
Walters, Henry, 91, 264, 268
Walters Mission Statement, 254
Walters, William T., 91, 112
Warren Report, 151
War zones, looted art (dealing), 283
Washington Post, The, 17, 173
WDAY Fargo (television), reception, 5
Weisser, Terry, 211, 228
Weitzmann, Josefa, 14
retirement, 15
Weitzmann, Kurt, 12–13, 56, 60, 66, 91
contact, 35–36
death, 13–14
Khuskivadze admiration, 219–220
Saint Peter icon description, 70
scholarly bias, 99–100
support, 32
Weitzmann method, analysis process, 12–13
Wendell Phillips Collection, 91
Wessel, Klaus, 55–57
White, Howard, 118, 171–173
Wijenburg, Kesteel, 68
Wilson, Jay, 188, 189, 191
Woodward, Jr., Hiram, 112–113, 117–118, 124
“Working the Numinous” (Vikan), 189
Wright, Bill, 184–186
Y
Yesehaq, Abba, 169
Z
Zacos, George, 38, 261
Byzantine bronzes, de Menil purchase, 45, 81
Byzantine gold jewelry supply, 39
Byzantine silver purchase, 42–43
gold ring, supply, 40
Zacos, Janet, 41–43, 261
About the Author
GARY VIKAN was Director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore from 1994 to 2013; from 1985 to 1994, he was the museum’s Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Medieval Art. Before coming to Baltimore, Vikan was Senior Associate at Harvard’s Center for Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC. A native of Minnesota, he received his BA from Carleton College and his PhD from Princeton University.
An internationally known medieval scholar, Vikan curated a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions at the Walters and led the contextual installations of the museum’s collections. He enacted a number of important changes, including the elimination of the museum’s general admission fee and the provision of open access to all of its digital assets. During his position as director, Vikan also led the effort to endow nearly two dozen museum positions. Vikan has taught at Johns Hopkins University, Carleton College, Goucher College, and at the Salzburg Global Seminar. From 2006 to 2011 Vikan had a weekly radio program on Baltimore’s NPR affiliate called “Postcards from the Walters.”
Vikan has served on numerous boards internationally and in the Baltimore region. He was appointed by President Clinton in 1999 to his Cultural Property Advisory Committee and was knighted by the French Minister of Culture in the Order of Arts and Letters in 2002. Vikan received Carleton College’s Distinguished Achievement award in 2008; he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2010.
In 2013 he stepped down from the Walters directorship to write, lecture, and teach; to provide consulting services as Vikan Consulting LLC to cultural non-profits, collectors, and dealers; and to pursue projects at the intersection of the arts and sciences.
Vikan’s recent books include Early Byzantine Pilgrimage Art (2011); Postcards from the Walters (2012); From the Holy Land to Graceland: Sacred People, Places, and Things in Our Lives (2013). Vikan lectures extensively on topics as varied as the Face of Christ, Elvis Presley, the Shroud of Turin, looted art and cultural property policy, neuroaesthetics, and art forgeries.