- Helen Fioratti, New York’s art dealer, used an old Roman mosaic as a tabletop for her coffee table.
- Dario Del Bufalo an Italian stone expert said Fioratti noticed the mosaic in his books and claimed that she owned it.
- Caligula, Roman emperor, ordered the mosaic for one of his large party vessels.
A geometric mosaic made by Caligula the Roman Emperor was used by a New York City Art Dealer as a coffee-table in her Park Avenue apartment. The Guardian reported.
Dario de Bufalo, an Italian specialist on ancient marbles and stones, signed copies of his book in 2013. “Porphyry,”The book contains both modern and ancient art pieces using the reddish purple stone. Also included is a photo showing an Italian mosaic that has been lost.
“There was a lady with a young guy with a strange hat that came to the table, and he told her, ‘What a beautiful book. Oh, Helen, look, that’s your mosaic.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, that’s my mosaic,'” Del Bufalo told “60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper.
Del Bufalo was able to locate the young man. He confirmed that Helen Fioratti, New York City’s art dealer and gallery owner, bought the mosaic in 1960s from an Italian family and made it into a coffeetable.
CBS News reported that the mosaic was part of an inlaid floor from a party ship Caligula had commissioned before his assassination. Cooper recounted Caligula’s four-year reign, citing academic accounts that he was cruel, brutal, and possibly deranged.
Cooper and Del Bufalo claim that many artifacts of Caligula, such as statues and images, were destroyed upon his death. They also mention the sinking his ships in Lake Nemi which is a small volcanic lake to the southeast of Rome.
CBS News reported that in the 1930s, Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, ordered Lake Nemi be drained to allow party ships and artifacts to be recovered and stored in a museum on the lakeside. According to The Guardian the Nazi troops set fire to the treasures after they returned from Italy in 1944.
Cooper was informed by Del Bufalo, that the mosaic had not been damaged by fire. This is in line with CBS News’ report that the mosaic was either taken out of the museum before the fire or kept in a private collection after it was removed from Lake Nemi.
The mosaic was discovered by Del Bufalo in Fioratti’s possession shortly after he had been informed. Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office searched for years for evidence supporting a charge against Fioratti for possessing stolen property. According to The New York Times. They concluded that the mosaic had been stolen at the Nemi museum and seized it. In 2017, they returned it to the Italian government. tAccording to the Times,
The mosaic was returned to Italy and displayed at the Museum of Roman Ships, Nemi. The Associated Press reported.
However, Del Bufalo stated that he sympathizes and will make Fioratti a new coffee table.
“I really would do a copy for her,” Cooper was informed by Del Bufalo. “Exact copy. She would not tell the difference.”