One morning in 2010, Marc-André Renold arrived at the Firm in high spirits, ready to tackle a few art law cases awaiting him — advising museums, dealers, collectors, and artists. But a single phone call would change not only his day, but the coming years of his career. He was informed that a Roman sarcophagus had been seized at the Geneva free ports and that it might have been looted in Turkey. It was the beginning of a judicial saga that would last five years.

Marc-André immediately contacted the Swiss (Federal Office of Culture) and Turkish (Ministry of Culture) authorities and learned that indeed, an ancient marble sarcophagus had been looted in the 1970s from the Roman necropolis of Perge, east of Antalya. The great question, however, was whether it was the same sarcophagus.

Driven by his passion for art and cultural property law, and drawing on his studies in law at Geneva, Basel, and Yale, as well as in the humanities at Geneva, Marc-André took on the case on behalf of Turkey. What followed was a lengthy legal battle in which he represented the Turkish State — the rightful owner of the stolen sarcophagus — in its claim to recover this antique masterpiece depicting the Twelve Labors of Hercules. Numerous hearings in Geneva and on-site investigations in Antalya and prisons across Anatolia ultimately proved that the sarcophagus found in Geneva was indeed the one looted from Perge.

As an epilogue to this long case, Marc-André succeeded in convincing the Turkish authorities that, before being returned to the Antalya Museum — where it can be admired today — the sarcophagus should be exhibited at the University of Geneva, allowing the Geneva public to discover this treasure that had remained hidden for years in the depths of the city’s free ports.

While swimming off the coast of Antalya during a short break on one of his trips for the case, watching turtles glide through the crystal-clear Mediterranean waters, Marc-André thought to himself how lucky he was to have such a fascinating profession.

Moreover, he has had the privilege of founding and directing the Art-Law Centre at the University of Geneva since 1991 and, since 2012, holding the UNESCO Chair in International Law of the Protection of Cultural Heritage (co-held with Antoinette Maget-Dominicé since 2024). Since August 2023, he has been an Honorary Professor at the University of Geneva and a Visiting Professor at LUISS University in Rome.