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O. Muscarella is a quite interesting guy. He is seen by many as "The Conscience"
of the slightly shady branch of museum curators. Here is what Wikipedia (English) has to say about him:
"Oscar White Muscarella (b. 1931) is an American archaeologist and former research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, where he worked for over 40 years before retiring in 2009. His specialty is the antique art and archeology of the
Near East, especially ancient Persia. Muscarella is an untiring opponent of robbery excavations, and some regard him as
the "conscience of the industry". Dr. Muscarella received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965."
"...."
"Muscarella has gained some notoriety in his attempts to unmask certain important artifacts as forgeries, including some in the collection of the Metropolitan . His book 'The Lie became
Great. The Forgery of Ancient Near Eastern Cultures (2000)! was a blistering attack, which included a long catalogue
of specific objects in museums, private collections, and the art market which he said were modern forgeries. Some entire
categories of objects were claimed to be all forgeries. The book was well received by reviewers in academic journals, several
of whom concluded that it should be "required" or "compulsory" reading for those in the field."
Do alarm clocks ring in your brain? Is it likely that the Metropolitan just ignores critizism from one of its senior employees?
You need the German Wikipedia, however, to get a few juicy details. Here is an excerpt
(my translation):
Muscarella, together with collegues, founded the 'Curators Forum', a kind of union-like group that
in particular fought for equal pay for women. It was seen as a provocation by the museum management. His intermal memos
in 1970/71 and other actions, urging the museum to change its policy of buying questionable antiquities, lead to him being
fired in 1972, 1973, and 1974. In each case he could fight his way back in by taking legal action. It took a 1300 page expert
opinion and 3 year in the last case, though, before he could return in 1977. He hasn't obtained a salary raise up to his
retirement in 2009. |
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Museum Problems: Metropolitan Museum, NYC