1. Seuso Research Project
  2. The research project
  3. The history of the treasure in Modern Times

The history of the treasure in Modern Times

The Seuso treasure is an archaeological find whose study adds important data to our knowledge about the Roman era, as well as the late period of Antiquity. Sub-project 8 did not set as its aim the examination of the treasure’s archaeological, art historical or socio-historical contexts, but in a unique way the exploration, analysis and interpretation of the events that took place between its discovery and return to Hungary. Besides the main phases of the history of the treasure in Modern Times, it also examines its criminological references. The main aim of the research is to explore data in addition to those already gained about the circumstances of discovering the Seuso treasure, its journey to the art market and the range of objects which originally belonged to the treasure. For all that, the quest for and analysis of archive documents serve as sources. Furthermore, the research explores and examines the documents connected to the New York court case of 1993-1994. Its emphatic task is to present the list of objects that can be linked to the treasure and which turned up in the international art trade during the decades since the treasure was found. The appearance of the treasure in the media is an organic part of the history of the Seuso treasure in Modern Times. Therefore, the task of the research is to analyse the relationship between its modern-time history and the media, which includes the analysis of its reception and its popularization.

 

The Borbély Cellar, the temporary hiding place of the Seuso treasure
The Borbély Cellar, the temporary hiding place of the Seuso treasure
The Seuso platter on the front cover of issue 2 of Antike Welt, 1990
The Seuso platter on the front cover of issue 2 of Antike Welt, 1990
The Seuso treasure in a 2019 comic published in Hungary
The Seuso treasure in a 2019 comic published in Hungary
The Borbély Cellar, the temporary hiding place of the Seuso treasure
The Borbély Cellar, the temporary hiding place of the Seuso treasure
The Seuso platter on the front cover of issue 2 of Antike Welt, 1990
The Seuso platter on the front cover of issue 2 of Antike Welt, 1990
The Seuso treasure in a 2019 comic published in Hungary
The Seuso treasure in a 2019 comic published in Hungary

The Seuso Archive has been set up under the auspices of Sub-project 8 and in the framework of the Repository of the Hungarian National Museum. It holds and collects archival material, scientific documents and press publications relating to the Seuso treasure. An important task of the sub-project is to constantly develop the Archive in cooperation with the Hungarian National Museum.

Head of the sub-project: Mihály Nagy, archaeologist