Ancient Roman mosaics ruined in botched restoration job
The mosaics have been left warped and distorted
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Officials in Turkey are attempting to fix at least eight ancient mosaics, after they were ruined during a shoddy restoration job.
The artworks were being cleaned and moved to a new museum in southern Turkey when they were spoiled.
Images of the mosaics reveal how they are almost unrecognisable, and pieced back together in different shapes, in the wrong colours or with missing tiles.
Local mosaic craftsman Mehmet Daşka told the authorities about the shocking transformations.
According to a quote translated by the Hurriyet Daily News, he told a local newspaper: "Valuable pieces from the Roman period have been ruined. They have become caricatures of their former selves. Some are in an especially poor condition and have lost their originality and value."
"Among the damaged mosaics are world-famous panels including a mosaic depicting the sacrifice of Isaac and a mosaic of Narcissus," he added.
Turkey’s Culture Ministry has now launched an investigation to pinpoint the culprits, Governor Ercan Topaca of Hatay province told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
He added that the ministry also wants to find anyone who may be guilty of negligence in the process of moving the artefacts from the the Hatay Archaeological Museum moved to the museum's new premises in the city of Antakya.
The pieces were part of the Hatay museums’ highly important collection of Roman mosaics.
“Some mistakes were made while the mosaics were being mounted,” Anadolu quoted Topaca as saying.
“Now our priority is to find ways to correct the mistakes," he added.
Topaca went on to explain that the authorities were alerted to the problem in March and immediately ended the move and restoration of the mosaics.
He said “eight or nine” mosaics were affected.
Additional reporting by AP
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments