It’s not every day that a priceless artifact is discovered. A Belgian father and son were surprised when they found out a souvenir hung in the hallway of their home for 50 years was actually a long-lost artifact from the lost Italian city of Pompeii.
Raphaël De Temmerman and his son, Geert De Temmerman, visited Italy in 1975. While touring the city of Pompeii, they were approached by a man who offered to sell them some carved stones depicting a scene.
The stone souvenir was installed in a stairway at the family’s home in Herzele, Belgium, largely ignored until 80-year-old Raphaël was preparing to move out of the house and his son decided to have the object appraised.
A pair of specialists from the Gallo-Roman museum in Tongeren visited the home to inspect the stone scene. The very next day, the family was visited by police officers, who drew up a report about the object.
The father and son were told the stairway decoration was an authentic Pompeii artifact that had been reported stolen 50 years earlier. “It’s a bit crazy to think that tourists have looked at a replica, while the original has been hanging here all this time,” Geert De Temmerman said.
An Christiaens, Tongeren’s deputy mayor for culture, said officials are eager to see the artifact returned back to Italy. Geert De Temmerman plans on complying with the authorities about returning the stones to Pompeii but he is hoping for some financial compensation over the matter.