Smuggled Treasure

In December 1969, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts unveiled with a flourish its newest treasure--a small and exquisite portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga attributed to Raphael. A cloud of questions arose--especially how and where the museum had obtained the painting. In an unprecedented move last week, the U.S. Bureau of Customs seized the Raphael, claiming that it had been smuggled into America without declaration.

According to a Government source, it was Dr. Hanns Swarzenski, the Boston Museum's curator of decorative art and sculpture, who allegedly spirited the little (8 1/2 in. by 10 1/2 in.) panel through customs at Logan Airport, probably in his briefcase or under his coat. Meanwhile, the Italian government --piqued at the loss of a documented national treasure--began an investigation. It concluded that the Raphael came to the U.S., directly or indirectly, through an Italian art dealer, Ildebrando Bossi, who died a month ago. Italy's leading art investigator, Rodolfo Siviero, asserts that Bossi bought it "for a very small sum" in 1947 from the aristocratic Fieschi family in Genoa. At the time of his death, Bossi was under indictment for selling the national treasure and exporting it illegally.

The biggest mystery seems to be why Boston felt it necessary to smuggle the Raphael at all. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Willie J. Davis, the painting would have been admitted without any difficulty if it had been declared. There are no restrictions on original works of art entering America. But now that Italy has made an issue of it, Boston may well lose the Raphael.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.