Once, an English gentleman had parts of the Parthenon frieze dismantled and brought to England. Today they are a centerpiece of the British Museum’s collection – and they are causing a diplomatic scandal.
There is a lot of talk this year about the return of looted colonial art, such as the Benin bronzes, some of which Germany returned to Nigeria in recent months. For years, Greece has been demanding in vain the return of one of its most important artistic treasures: parts of the Parthenon frieze, which are displayed as one of the centerpieces of the British Museum’s collection. Now, the case has triggered a diplomatic scandal: British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, canceled, at short notice, a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in London, scheduled for Tuesday. British cabinet member Mark Haper indirectly confirmed that the cultural dispute was the reason.
The British government has repeatedly made its position on the frieze pieces clear: They should remain part of the British Museum’s permanent collection, Harper told the BBC.
Mitsotakis reacted angrily. He said Monday night he was upset about the cancellation, which came just hours before the scheduled date. “Greece’s positions on the question of the Parthenon sculpture are well known,” he wrote. “I was hoping to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart, as well as the main challenges of the international situation: Gaza, Ukraine, the climate crisis, migration.”
Previously, Mitsotakis had once again strongly demanded that London return parts of the frieze from the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis of Athens. It would be like dividing the “Mona Lisa” and showing one half in the Louvre, in Paris, and the other in the British Museum, the head of government told the BBC on Sunday. In January it was said that there would be secret talks between Britain and Greece about return.
Lord Elgin brought French fries to England
The dispute over ownership of antiquities has been going on for decades. The Temple of the Parthenon (“Chamber of the Virgin”) on the Acropolis is one of the most famous surviving architectural monuments of ancient Greece. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British diplomat Lord Elgin had the best-preserved marble slabs and sculptures from the Parthenon frieze dismantled and brought to England.
The dismantling of the frieze is based on a decree from Sultan Selim III. in 1801. He allowed the British envoy in Constantinople, Thomas Bruce Elgin, to take with him “some stone blocks with inscriptions or figures.” However, Elgin had the entire frieze ripped off the Parthenon and sent to London. Individual pieces have been sold along the way, including three copies to the Vatican. Eglin sold much of it to the British Museum in 1816. In Britain, they are not named after their place of origin, but rather “Elgin Marbles” in honor of their bearer.
In 2006, the Heidelberg University Antiquities Collection was the first institution to return the parts of the Parthenon in its possession; the Vatican also returned its parts. Since then, there have been calls for all the scattered fragments to be brought back to their place of origin. More recently, last May, the Archaeological Museum of Palermo, in southern Italy, donated fragments of its temple to the Acropolis Museum in Athens. (APA/AFP/Portal/Red.)