Ittai Gradel, the Danish gems specialist and art dealer who uncovered that some 2,000 objects had been stolen from the British Museum ’s collection, died on April 28 at age 61. BBC News reported that he died of renal cancer shortly after receiving a medal from the museum in honor of what its director, Nicholas Cullinan, called his “very significant contribution.” Initially dismissed by the museum, Gradel’s investigation made international headlines and ultimately led to the resignation of then-director Hartwig Fischer in 2023. An expert in engraved gems of the Greco-Roman world, he alerted the British Museum in 2021 to what he believed were precious objects from its collection being sold on eBay. He identified senior curator Peter Higgs as the suspected culprit, including in a 1,600-word missive describing a Roman cameo he had spotted for auction online, alongside other ancient artifacts.…