In the early nineteenth century, Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed roughly half of the surviving sculptural decoration from the Parthenon in Athens and shipped it to Britain. Today, those sculptures sit in the British Museum. Greece has been asking for them back for over forty years.
The sculptures themselves are extraordinary. Carved between 447 and 432 BCE under the direction of Pheidias, they once decorated the exterior of the Parthenon, the temple to Athena that still crowns the Acropolis. The frieze depicts the Panathenaic procession, a river of figures in shallow relief so fluid and assured that it remains one of the greatest achievements in the history of sculpture. The metopes show the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs. The pediment figures, though fragmentary, carry the full weight of classical Greek form at its absolute peak.
Elgin claimed he acted with permission from the Ottoman authorities then occupying Greece. Critics at the time, including Lord Byron, who called it vandalism, were unconvinced, and historians have debated the legitimacy of that permission ever since.
The British Museum argues the sculptures are safer in London, reach a wider audience, and belong to the world rather than to one nation. Greece argues that the Parthenon is an intact monument arbitrarily split across two countries, and that the opening of the purpose built Acropolis Museum in Athens in 2009, designed specifically to house the reunited sculptures, removed the last credible conservation argument for keeping them in London. The debate has never been closer to resolution, or further from it.
About the Author
Morgan Avery Mucha is a junior year art history student specializing in Ancient Greek art, with a focus on visual culture and material/ religious practice. She can read and write Ancient (Attic) Greek and has written for her academic blog, Art Abloom, for three years, engaging with classical art, archaeology, and historical interpretation.
Read more on the Honors Blog.
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