CLEVELAND, OH.- Following the results of new scientific testing conducted in cooperation with the Republic of Türkiye and the District Attorney of New York County, the Cleveland Museum of Art has made the decision to transfer the Greek or Roman bronze statue of a draped male figure (the Philosopher) to the District Attorney for delivery to the Republic of Türkiye. The results of the tests led the museum to the conclusion that the statue was likely present at the relevant site in the ancient city of Bubon, Türkiye, commonly known as the Sebasteion.

Those tests included creating molds of the feet of the statue, including a lead plug in the left foot, and comparing them to stone pedestals located at the Sebasteion, which preserve certain holes on their upper surfaces to hold the feet of statues. In addition to the physical comparison, photogrammetric models were created of the statue and of blocks at the Sebasteion which allowed for additional comparative analysis. Lead isotope analyses were also performed on both the lead preserved within the foot of the statue and samples taken from a stone pedestal at the Sebasteion. Finally, three different types of analysis were done on soil sampled from within the Philosopher, from three different areas at Bubon, and from a separate statue known to have been at the Sebasteion. The collective results of these tests led the museum to the conclusion that the statue had likely been unearthed at Bubon.

The museum appreciates the cooperation that officials in Türkiye and at the office of the District Attorney provided to come to a scientific resolution of the issues surrounding the statue. Without this new research, the museum would not have been able to determine with confidence that the statue was once present at the site. The museum and Turkish officials are considering a temporary display of the statue in Cleveland prior to its transfer to Türkiye, as well as other areas for cultural cooperation between Türkiye and the museum.

The extensive testing and examination of the site also support the museum’s relatively recent determination that the statue is probably not a representation of Marcus Aurelius, but rather a statue of a Greek philosopher. The stone base at the Sebasteion where the statue was likely located does not bear any inscription. Although there is an inscription on a separate stone base at the Sebasteion that bears as a legend an ancient Greek version of “Marcus Aurelius,” the new tests suggest that the Philosopher is very unlikely to have ever been on that stone base. Without a head or identifying inscription, the identity of the statue remains uncertain.