Sarcophagus (The Amathus Sarcophagus), ca. 475 B.C. Limestone. Said to be from Amathus. The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription 1874–76 (74.51.2453).

Learn more about The Cesnola Collection and the Metropolitan Museum's Early History
The final destination of the Cesnola Collection was for a long time uncertain. In 1870, negotiations were held first with Napoleon III of France, who wished to acquire the entire collection for the Louvre in Paris, then with Russian officials with a view to its transfer to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. But soon afterward, Cesnola shipped the collection to London, where it aroused considerable public interest when it was exhibited. At this point, the newly founded Metropolitan Museum intervened, purchasing a significant portion of the collection with funds raised through public subscription, with Junius Spencer Morgan—the father of J. Pierpont Morgan—John Taylor Johnston, and other Trustees of the Museum making substantial contributions. Cesnola accompanied his collection to New York, personally supervising its installation and publication. In 1877, he became secretary of the Metropolitan and, from 1879 until his death in 1904, served as its first director.

The story of the Cesnola Collection is almost as colorful as that of its creator, Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904). After a military career in Europe and as a Medal of Honor—winning Union officer in the U.S. Civil War, Cesnola served as American consul in Cyprus from 1865 to 1876 and amassed Cypriot antiquities both by excavation and by purchase. At the time, a number of antiquarians from various European countries were beginning to collect Cypriot antiquities, but they were soon outmatched by Cesnola, who came to dominate the scene in Cyprus. Cesnola saw his work as rivaling that of Schliemann at Troy and intended his discoveries on Cyprus to provide important evidence for the so-called missing link between the biblical and classical worlds.