Pope Francis has decided to return to Greece three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon that have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for two centuries.
The Vatican said in a brief statement that the Pope is handing them over to Archbishop Ieronymos II, head of the Greek Orthodox Church and spiritual leader of Greece, as a “donation” and “a concrete sign of his sincere desire to follow the ecumenical path.” have the truth”.
The bearded man’s head is “donated” by the Vatican to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church. Photo: Athens Acropolis Museum/EPA handoutThe Parthenon, located on the Acropolis in Athens, was built in the fifth century BC. Completed as a temple to the goddess Athena in 300 BC, its decorative friezes contain some of the greatest examples of ancient Greek sculpture.
The three Vatican fragments include a horse’s head, a boy’s head and a bearded man’s head, which have been in the Vatican since the 19th century. The boy’s head was loaned to Greece for a year in 2008.
The decision to “donate” the sculptures to the Greek Orthodox Church and not return them directly to the Greek state is widely seen as a way for the Vatican to avoid setting a precedent that could mar other treasures in its museums, like it many First Nations groups are doing and colonized countries around the world are demanding that Western museums return artifacts and artwork looted during colonization.
The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport expressed its gratitude for the pope’s “generous” decision and hoped the move would put pressure on the British Museum. The Acropolis Museum also welcomed the decision. It is still unclear what plans Ieronymos has for the small sculptures.
The Vatican’s decision, which is expected to take some time to execute, is likely to put further pressure on the British Museum, which has refused to return its larger collection of Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, which are a centerpiece was of the museum since 1816.
For decades, Greece has appealed to Britain to permanently return the 2,500-year-old sculptures removed from the Parthenon temple by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century while serving as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Greece’s then-ruler.
The British Museum has repeatedly ruled out returning the marbles, which comprise around half of the 160-meter-long frieze that decorated the Parthenon, insisting they were legally acquired.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the museum’s trustees had held secret talks with the Greek Prime Minister about the marbles’ return. The Greek government said no decision was imminent, while the British Museum said while it wanted a “new Parthenon partnership with Greece, we will not dismantle our magnificent collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity”.
The United Nations cultural agency Unesco has called on Greece and Great Britain to reach an agreement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report