The Medici Conspiracy

Their names are splashed all over the newspapers: Marion True, Robert Hecht, Giacomo Medici. The Medici Conspiracy tells the complete history behind the headlines. The story begins with a botched robbery and a police chase. Eight ancient vases are discovered in the swimming pool of a German-based art smuggler. More valuable than the recovery of the vases, however, is the discovery of the smugglers card index detailing his deals and dealers. It reveals the existence of a web of tomb raiders who steal classical artifacts, and a network of dealers and smugglers who spirit them out of Italy and into the hands of wealthy collectors and museums, including Sothebys, the Getty Museum in L. A. , the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now with a new chapter on the Greek scandal and fallout, The Medici Conspiracy authoritatively exposes another shameful round in one of the oldest games in the world: theft, smuggling and duplicitous dealing, all in the name of art.

Author Biography

Peter Watson writes for the New York Times and has written weekly columns on the art market for the London Sunday Times, Observer and Evening Standard. In June 1997, he was appointed Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The Caravaggio Conspiracy, From Manet to Manhattan,and Sotheby’s: The Inside Story. Cecilia Todeschini is a researcher and translator who has worked for the BBC, ITV, CBS, ABC, and NBC. She has covered papal conclaves as well as the great mafia trials in Italy among many other subjects.