In 2013, art historian Dario Del Buffalo was signing copies
of his newest book in a New York store. He overheard a young man say, “What a
beautiful book! Oh, Helen, look! That’s your mosaic!” Dario chased after the
couple, who confirmed the mosaic pictured in his book was a table top in Helen’s
home. The mosaic in question had begun life the year 40CE as part of a dance
floor on one of Emperor Caligula’s pleasure barges. After spending millennia underwater,
the mosaic was rediscovered in 1920 when Mussolini drained Lake Nemi. It was
housed in a museum along with other remains of the barges, and was thought to
be destroyed in a fire during WWII. Instead, it had been spirited away by the
Nazis, along with so many other works of art. An Italian official with a reputation
of finding Nazi-pilfered art sold the mosaic to Helen, who then used it as a
coffee table 40 years.
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