Ludolf Stephani

Stephani was the Hermitage official to whom Luigi Palma di Cesnola offered his collection in 1870. Cesnola wrote to the Keeper of Antiquities proposing that the museum buy all of it, then about 5,000 objects, and adding that the British Museum and the Louvre had already bought vases from him¹. Stephani passed the offer to the Director-General, Stepan Gedeonov, argued that the Hermitage should not lose its standing among other museums, and was authorised to buy three painted vases, two male heads, two limestone and two terracotta statues for 6,000 francs¹. According to Anastasia Bukina he took the initiative to have the Ministry of the Imperial Court finance a trip to Cyprus by his assistant Johannes Doell. Bukina writes that Doell chose the Golgoi sculpture, which differs from the list above¹. In August 1870 the deal became impossible: Alexander II forbade it, for reasons that are unclear¹.

Masson, citing information from S. Boriskovskaya of the Hermitage, says that Stephani, as keeper and academician, advised against buying the whole collection and that Cesnola refused to divide it². Masson calls Doell "assistant du conservateur L. Stephani" and gives Stephani's dates as 1816-1887². Doell's catalogue of the Cesnola collection was published in German in 1873 with the support of the Academy; it is what remained of the project¹.