Ancient Roman mosaics ruined by restoration attempts

So, it's a little outside of the realm of this blog as these pieces were made in the Roman era (most in the second century AD), but I was so horrified when I came across this news this morning that I am sharing it, regardless. So, it seems that a least eight ancient mosaics--up to as much as ten--were ruined while being restored and moved to a new museum in southern Turkey and authorities are looking into ways to fix the botched work, a senior official said Tuesday.

The pieces, which were to be displayed at the Hatay Archaeology Museum and include famous panels depicting the sacrifice of Isaac and a mosaic of Narcissus, are thought to be beyond repair. According to Hurriyet newspaper, the scandal of the destruction of these 2nd century mosaics broke out after a local restorer, Mehmet Daşkapan, reported it to a local newspaper. According to Daşkapan at least ten precious artefacts are now caricatures of their former selves.

“Valuable pieces from the Roman period have been ruined. Some are in an especially poor condition and have lost their originality and value.”

The people responsible for the restoration work, meanwhile, have said they're not at fault and instead laid the blame at the feet of French restorers from the 1930s. They said that the addition of painted stones and varnishing contributed to the mess.

Turkey's Culture Ministry is investigating those responsible for the failed restoration work or anyone who may be guilty of negligence as the mosaics at the Hatay Archaeological Museum were being moved to the museum's new premises in the city of Antakya. The Hatay museum is home to one of the world's greatest collections of Roman mosaics.

Mistakes happen, but I can't help but be upset when such precious works are all but destroyed. That they're Roman does not matter--they could have been Hellenic, or Renaissance, or any other time period and it would still have been such a huge loss. When you touch these items, you need to know what you're doing. No one in this process is without fault, not the museum, not the restaurateurs. Please let this be a lesson for restaurateurs out there, and for museums entrusting works to outside contractors to restore. For more images of the 'restorations', please go here--but it's not pretty.