Birmingham museum returns stolen sculpture to India | PaysToPost.com: The Birmingham Museum of Art returned a stolen stone sculpture of the Hindu deity, Shiva, to the nation of India on Tuesday.
The sculpture was returned nearly three years after it was discovered the work was stolen out of India as part of a $100 million international smuggling racket organized by New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor.
The Art Fund of Birmingham, Inc.--a non-profit corporation that supports the Birmingham Museum of Art--purchased the sculpture, titled Lingodhbhavamurti (Shiva Manifesting within the Linga of Flames), in 2008 from Kapoor, who worked for the Art of the Past gallery. The purchase price of the sculpture wasnt released.
The sculpture was placed on loan to the Birmingham Museum of Art, where it remained on display until last month.
The nearly 4-foot tall stone sculpture depicts a pillar of fire splitting open to reveal the god Shiva, witnessed by the deities Brahma (in the form of a goose) and Vishnu (as a boar). The sculpture was made during the Chola dynasty around 1150 CE. It is from Tamil Nadu in southern India.
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