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)]] .]] The Elgin Marbles (s removed from the Parthenon at Athens to Britain in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl Of Elgin , ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803. Taking advantage of Ottoman occupation over Greece , he obtained a '' Firman '' from the Ottoman Sultan to remove movable sculptures or inscriptions. However, taking advantage of the political situation, he also managed to remove the famous Parthenon Frieze s. The sculptures were deposited in the British Museum , London in 1816, and in 1936 were placed into the purpose-built Duveen Gallery. DESCRIPTION See Also: Parthenon Frieze Metopes of the Parthenon The Elgin Marbles include some of the statuary from the , reduced to ruin during the Greek War Of Independence (1821–33); the Propylaia ; and the Temple Of Athena Nike . Lord Elgin took half of the marbles from the Parthenon and wax casts were produced from the remaining ones. LEGALITY OF THE REMOVAL OF THE SCULPTURES Despite the Firman mentioned above, the notion that Ottoman authorities granted Elgin legal title to the Parthenon sculptures, which has been the main British argument for keeping them, was recently challenged in a detailed study by Professor David Rudenstine of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law , in the ''International Journal of Cultural Property''. Rudenstine concludes that the premise that Elgin obtained legal title to the marbles, which he then transferred to the British government, "is certainly not established and may well be false." http://www.archaeology.org/0003/newsbriefs/parthenon.html http://www.damon.gr/marbles/police.htm CRITICISM BY ELGIN'S CONTEMPORARIES When the marbles were shipped to Britain, there was criticism of Elgin (who had spent a fortune on the project) but also much admiration of the sculptures. Lord Byron strongly objected to their removal from Greece : Dull is the eye that will not weep to see Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed By British hands, which it had best behoved To guard those relics ne’er to be restored. Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved, And once again thy hapless bosom gored, And snatch'd thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorred! :::—"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" Byron was not the only Englishman to protest the removal at the time: :"The Honourable Lord has taken advantage of the most unjustifiable means and has committed the most flagrant pillages. It was, it seems, fatal that a representative of our country loot those objects that the Turks and other barbarians had considered sacred," said Sir John Newport. A contemporary MP Thomas Hughes , an eye witness, later wrote: :"The abduction of small parts of the Parthenon, of a value relatively small but which previously contributed to the solidity of the building, left that glorious edifice exposed to premature ruin and degradation. The abduction dislodged from their original positions, wherefrom they precisely drew their interest and beauty, many pieces which are altogether unnecessary to the country that now owns them." John Keats was one of those who saw them privately exhibited in London, hence his two Sonnet s about the marbles. Some scholars, notably Richard Payne Knight , insisted that the marbles dated from the period of the Roman Empire , but most accepted that they were authentic works from the studio of Phidias , the most famous ancient Greek sculptor. They were eventually purchased by Parliament for the nation in 1816 for £35,000 and deposited in the British Museum , where they were displayed in the Elgin Saloon (constructed in 1832 ), until the Duveen Gallery was completed in 1939 . DAMAGE TO THE MARBLES IN THE UK To facilitate transport, the column capital of the Parthenon and many metopes and slabs were either hacked or sawn and sliced into smaller sections causing irreparable damage to the Parthenon itself to which these Marbles were connected. One shipload of marbles on board the British brig ''Mentor'' was caught in a storm off Cape Matapan and sank near Kythera , but was salvaged at the Earl's personal expense; it took two years to bring them to the surface.1 While the artifacts are held in London they have been saved from the hazards of pollution, neglect, and war (unlike those remaining on the Parthenon), but they have also been irrevocably damaged by the unauthorized "cleaning" methods employed by British Museum staff in the 1930s, who were dismissed when this was discovered. Acting under the erroneous belief that the marbles were originally bright white - under the orders of Joseph Duveen the marbles were cleaned with copper tools and caustics, causing serious damage and altering the marbles' colouring. (The Pentelicon marble on which the carvings were made naturally acquires a tan colour similar to honey when exposed to air). In addition, the process scraped away all traces of surface colouring that the marbles originally held, but more regretably, the detailed tone of many carvings were lost forever. The British Museum held an internal enquiry and the officers responsible ceased museum employment. According to a list of facts revealed by appeals to the UK Freedom Of Information Act , the Elgin Marbles were damaged by two schoolboys fighting in the British Museum in 1961. One of the boys fell and knocked off part of a centaur's leg. THE GREEK CLAIM TO THE MARBLES The Greek government claims that the marbles should be returned to Athens on moral and artistic grounds, although it is no longer feasible or advisable to replace them on the Parthenon. The main stated aim of the Greek campaign is to reunite the Parthenon sculptures around the world in order to restore the unity of the monument. Already, two fragments of the monument have returned from Sweden and Germany . The New Acropolis Museum , designed by the Swiss-American architect Bernard Tschumi , is designed to hold the Parthenon sculptures arranged in the same way as they would have been on the Parthenon. It is intended to leave the spaces for the Elgin Marbles empty, rather than using casts in these positions, as a reminder to visitors of the fact that parts are held in other museums. The new museum plan also attracted other controversy; the construction site contains late Roman and early Christian archaeology, including an unusual seventh-century Byzantine bath house and other finds from Late Antiquity . A court challenge in Greece from the International Council on Museums and Sites ( ICOMOS ) to the site was rejected by the Greek civil courts in 2004. The new design incorporates the archaeological finds within the building. Archaeology Magazine article on the Acropolis Museum controversies, July/August 2004. THE BRITISH MUSEUM POSITION A range of slightly different points have been put by British Museum spokespersons over the years in defence of retention of the Elgin Marbles within the museum. The main points include the maintenance of a single worldwide-oriented cultural collection, all viewable in one location, thereby serving as a world heritage centre; the saving of the marbles from what would have been, or would be, pollution and other damage if relocated back to Athens; and a legal position that the museum is banned by charter from returning any part of its collection. British Museum press release on the Elgin Marbles The latter was tested in the British High Court in May 2005 in relation to Nazi-looted Old Master artworks held at the museum; it was ruled that these could not be returned. Guardian article on legal ruling affecting the marbles' return policy, May 27, 2005 The judge, Sir Andrew Morritt, ruled that the British Museum Act – which protects the collections for posterity – cannot be overridden by a "moral obligation" to return works known to have been plundered. It has been argued however, that connections between the legal ruling and the Elgin Marbles were more tenuous than implied by the Attorney General. Article on the relevance of the Feldmann paintings judgment to the Elgin Marbles. Despite the British Museum remaining in ardent refusal, the British people according a MORI Institute opinion poll conducted in the UK found that a substantial majority of the population is in favour of returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece and that a previous opinion poll organised by Channel 4 TV showed over 90% in favour. http://www.parthenonuk.com/article.php?id=79 OTHER DISPLACED PARTHENON ART Lord Elgin was neither the first, nor the last, to disperse elements of the marbles from their original location. The remainder of the surviving sculptures that are not in museums or storerooms in Athens are held in museums in various locations across Europe. The British Museum also holds additional fragments from the Parthenon sculptures acquired from various collections that have no connection with Lord Elgin. Material from the Parthenon was dispersed both before and after Elgin's activities. The British Museum holds approximately half of the surviving sculptures. The remainder is divided among the following locations:
The collection held in the British Museum includes the following material from the Acropolis:
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REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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