The Parthenon Sculptures
What is the Parthenon and how did the sculptures come to
London?
The Parthenon in Athens is a building with a long and complex
history. Built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple dedicated to the
Greek goddess Athena, it was for a thousand years the church of the
Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque, and finally an
archaeological ruin. The building was altered and the sculptures
much damaged over the course of the centuries. The first major loss
occurred around AD 500 when the Parthenon was converted into a
church. When the city was under siege by the Venetians in 1687, the
Parthenon itself was used as a gunpowder store. A huge explosion
blew the roof off and destroyed a large portion of the remaining
sculptures. The building has been a ruin ever since. Archaeologists
worldwide are agreed that the surviving sculptures could never be
re-attached to the structure.
By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decoration
remained. Between 1801 and 1805 Lord Elgin, the British ambassador
to the Ottoman Empire of which Athens had been a part for some 350
years, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman
authorities, removed about half of the remaining sculptures from
the fallen ruins and from the building itself. Lord Elgin was
passionate about ancient Greek culture and transported the
sculptures back to Britain. The arrival of the sculptures in London
had a profound effect on the European public, regenerating interest
in ancient Greek culture and influencing contemporary artistic
trends.
These sculptures were acquired from Lord Elgin by the British
Museum in 1816 following a Parliamentary Select Committee enquiry
which fully investigated and approved the legality of Lord Elgin’s
actions. Since then the sculptures have all been on display to the
public in the British Museum, free of entry charge.
Where can the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon be
seen?
Sculptures surviving from the Parthenon are located in museums in
eight different countries. The majority of the sculptures are
roughly equally divided between Athens and London, while important
pieces are also to be found in other major European museums,
including the Louvre and the Vatican.
1. Parthenon Sculptures in Athens
Recently the Greek authorities have continued the process of
removing the sculptures from the Parthenon, work that began over
200 years ago. Nearly all of the sculptures have now been removed
from the ruin. Those of the sculptures in Athens will be
transferred to the New Acropolis Museum when work on it is
completed (due in 2008).
2. Parthenon Sculptures in London
The sculptures in London, sometimes known as the ‘Elgin
Marbles’, have been on permanent public display in the British
Museum since 1817, free of charge. Here they are seen by a world
audience of five million visitors a year and are actively studied
and researched to promote worldwide understanding of ancient Greek
culture. The Museum has published the results of its research
extensively.
3. Parthenon Sculptures in other museums
The following institutions also hold sculpture from the
Parthenon:
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Vatican Museums
National Museum, Copenhagen
Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna
University Museum, Würzburg
Glyptothek, Munich
What has the Greek Government asked for?
Since the early 1980s Greek governments have argued for the
permanent removal to Athens of all the Parthenon Sculptures in the
British Museum. The Greek government has also disputed the British
Museum Trustees’ legal title to the sculptures. For more
information on the Greek Government’s official position, see the
website of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture: www.culture.gr
What is the British Museum’s position?
The British Museum’s Trustees argue that the Parthenon
Sculptures are integral to the Museum’s purpose as a world museum
telling the story of human cultural achievement. Here Greece’s
cultural links with the other great civilizations of the ancient
world, especially Egypt, Assyria, Persia and Rome, can be clearly
seen, and the vital contribution of ancient Greece to the
development of later cultural achievements in Europe, Asia, and
Africa can be followed and understood. The current division of the
surviving sculptures between museums in eight countries, with about
equal quantities present in Athens and London, allows different and
complementary stories to be told about them, focusing respectively
on their importance for the history of Athens and Greece, and their
significance for world culture. This, the Museum’s Trustees
believe, is an arrangement that gives maximum public benefit for
the world at large and affirms the universal nature of the Greek
legacy.
More about the Parthenon debate can be found on the the website
of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture: www.culture.gr
The following books provide good introductions to the Parthenon
and its sculptures:
Mary Beard, The Parthenon (Profile, 2002)
Brian Cook, The Elgin Marbles (BM Press, 1984)
Ian Jenkins, The Parthenon Frieze (BM Press, 1994)
Ian Jenkins, The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum (BM
Press, 2007)
William St Clair, Lord Elgin and the Marbles (3rd edition Oxford
University Press, 1998)
These titles, and others, are available in the British Museum
bookshop.
For further information or images please contact Hannah Boulton
in the Press Office. Tel: +44 (0)20 7323 8583/8522 or e-mail
communications@britishmuseum.org