La Parole Divine is holding another icon auction in Cyprus.
http://www.laparoledivine.net/ Their last auction sparked some controversy. Questions arose concerning the provenance of the sole Cypriot icon in the sale. See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2010/06/organizers-of-cypriot-icon-auction.html As a result, it was ultimately donated to the Orthodox Church.
Apparently, no Cypriot icons will be auctioned in the current sale. However, questions about double standards remain given the Cypriot government's public stance [before the U.S. State Department at least] against the sale of cultural property without longstanding provenances.
Do the icons in this auction have longstanding published provenances? [The Internet version of the catalogue does not describe provenances.] Will cultural property watchdogs Gill and Barford get on the case? Or, will they let the matter go because the auctioneer apparently has good relations with Saving Antiquities for Everyone? See http://www.savingantiquities.org/feature_page.php?featureID=6
Addendum: Mr. Barford has responded claiming his blog is not interested in icons: http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2010/11/are-gill-and-barford-interested-in-icon.html
But see http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/search?q=icons Professor Gill has also touched upon the subject:
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/search?q=icons
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