The Medici Conspiracy (56 page)

As can be seen, even in the course of his long spontaneous declarations made during the hearing, Medici never stopped lying and in fact accentuated the distortion of reality, so as to depict himself as an innocent subjected to persecution by the Italian Judiciary, by the Swiss Judiciary, by the Police forces of the two countries, and by his own “work” milieu. What strikes one most in this long series of lies, is that they were told in spite of the fact that Medici knew very well that the documentation and the photographic archive which had been seized from him were part of the documents of the case and objectively give him the lie and cannot be confuted. Medici even reached the point of several times invoking an exemplary sentence against himself if even only one single archaeological object was proved to have been recycled.... Very well, the objects that beyond doubt were recycled, as will be highlighted in the specific
paragraph, are dozens . . . Arts Franc bought all the objects at the above-mentioned auction following the indications given by Medici, at the price indicated by Medici and with the money furnished by Medici, and [were] delivered to Medici . . . for years numerous goods were sold through auctions by Medici so as to be repurchased by himself, so much so that they were found in his possession.

Nor does he explain why it was easier to trade in Switzerland through a gallery opened in Geneva, if he did not intend to trade in archaeological objects coming from thefts and clandestine digs carried out in Italy.

The purchase of archaeological material just excavated in Italy is documented by dozens and dozens of Polaroids and “scandalous” photographs which frequently show the actual stages of the digs . . . we point out that two chequered urns, clearly freshly excavated, were photographed in Medici's house in Santa Marinella. . . . The collection of
buccheri
and Villanovan objects destined to be donated to the state clashes with the fact that Medici has never donated these objects, neither before nor after their seizure, and that Medici sold . . . large quantities both of
buccheri
as well as Villanovan objects at auctions. Whilst the fact remains that Medici has in no way documented where he purchases these goods, his [declared] wish to collect them so as to donate them to the State is the umpteenth [“
ennesima”
] shameless lie.

No invoice has ever been made out by Medici for evaluation or restoration, yet one notices the meticulous way in which the documentation is kept with regard to his activity, from which one learns that Medici made out invoices only to the Aboutaams, through whom he used to sell his own archaeological objects. What's more, the Polaroids and photographs were not found, with the exception of very few cases, loose [or singly], but on the contrary, [they were found] well archived in specific albums which document the arrival of the goods, their condition, their initial collocation [arrangement], their temporary importation into Switzerland. . . . Medici evidently has forgotten that the catalogues titled “
Oggetti Passati”
[passed objects] contain Polaroids and photos of objects on which is marked the destination: V.CRI, V.SOTH, P.G.M., COLL, [“v.” stands for
venduto,
or sold]—that is, sold through Christo Michaelides, always indicated as CRI or CR, through Bob Hecht, always indicated as BO, through Sotheby's, and sold to the Paul Getty Museum, or part of the Medici “collection.”

It is therefore objectively proven beyond doubt that the photographic archive and the Polaroids in particular only depict objects bought and traded by Medici, who for this reason had archived the photographic documents in specific catalogues, divided into kinds of objects, their destinations.... The sensational falsity of Medici's statements on this point shows how well aware he is of the fact that there can be no licit justification to explain his having kept the photographic archive and he preferred denying even the evidence, in the hope perhaps that the documents seized had not been examined. In fact, it is precisely anger against those who have shown careful and intelligent examination of the seized
documents, like Maurizio Pellegrini of the Southern Etruria Superintendency, that must have made Medici throw accusations as false as they are gratuitous.

The extraordinary and adventurous human story of Hecht is well recounted in the memorandum which he himself wrote . . . a document in which his ventures are never exalted, in fact we must perhaps think that they contain some disinterested omissions so as to avoid problems for his family after his death. We are obviously referring to the first draft
of the memorandum and not to the sweetened [“
edulcorata”
] version, also found in his house, which contains blatant [“
evidenti
”] corrections aimed at avoiding possible demands for reimbursement from Museums which had, at very expensive prices, purchased objects such as the Euphronios krater, about which Hecht in the first draft tells the true story—also reconstructible through other sources of evidence . . . we deduce that Hecht, together with Medici and Bürki and individuals to be identified, founded the criminal conspiracy [“
associazione per delinquere
”] between the end of the sixties and the very early seventies, the aim of which was to intercept all the important material clandestinely excavated in Etruria and most of that excavated in Puglia, thanks to a tight network [“
fitta rete
”] of relationships that Hecht personally had with individuals in positions of responsibility in many museums....