Nazi-looted erotic mosaic returned to Pompeii after 80 years

ROME (Reuters) - An ancient Roman erotic mosaic depicting a half-naked couple has returned to Pompeii more than 80 years after it was stolen by a Nazi officer during World War Two, Italy's cultural heritage police said on Tuesday.

The intimate artwork, featuring a man reclining in bed with his female partner standing in front of him, was handed back by Germany following a diplomatic effort, the police said in a statement.

Set on a slab of travertine, the mosaic panel dates to between the late 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D.

It was taken from the area around Pompeii, near Naples, during the war by a German Nazi army captain assigned to military logistics in Italy.

The German officer gifted the piece to a civilian, who kept it until his death. His heirs, realizing its origin, contacted the Italian authorities to arrange its return.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the German-born director of the Pompeii archaeological park, described the mosaic as part of a cultural turning point where everyday intimacy became a subject in Roman art, as opposed to the heroic myths of earlier centuries.

"Here we see a new theme, the routine of domestic love," he said, noting that the male figure's expression "seems almost a little bored".

The mosaic will now be put on display at Pompeii alongside the hundreds of other items and archaeological remains at the site of the ancient city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones, editing by Alvise Armellini and Gareth Jones)