History
The sculpture was found August 4, 1897 by a young worker, Manuel Campello Esclapez. This "popular" version of the story differs from the official report by Pere Ibarra (the local keeper of the records) which stated that it was Antonio Maciá who found the bust.
Pierre Paris, a French archaeological connoisseur, purchased the sculpture within a few weeks and shipped it to France, where it was shown at the Louvre Museum and hidden for safe-keeping during World War II.
The Vichy government negotiated with Franco's government its return to Spain in 1940–41, and on June 27, 1941 the sculpture was placed in Museo del Prado (Madrid), then moved to the National Archaeological Museum, where it remains.
The discovery of the Lady of Elche initiated a popular interest in pre-Roman Iberian culture. She appeared on a 1948 Spanish one-peseta banknote and was mentioned in William Gaddis's The Recognitions (1955).
The sculpture was temporarily on display at the Museo Arqueológico y de Historia de Elche from May 18 to November 1, 2006. Several appeals from this city (where it is now represented by a state of the art replica) have demanded its permanent return to this city.
Read more about this topic: Lady Of Elche
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