The term for the group of sculptures gathered in Athens by Thomas Bruce, VII Earl of Elgin, Ambassador of England to the Sublime Porte (the office of the Grand Vizier and foreign relations) of the Ottoman Empire in 1799. The term has entered into current archaeological terminology. Assisted by the Neapolitan painter Lusieri and a group of architects, designers and molders, Earl Elgin collected the well-known “Elgin Marbles” such as a capital and a trabeation of a Parthenon column, sculptures of the Parthenon, architectural pieces of the Propylaea, a caryatid, a column, fragments of the Erechtheum, part of the sculptures of the temple of Athena Nike, the statue of Dionysus from the monument of Trasyllos and other architectural fragments of Attic monuments, as well as casts and drawings of the Parthenon sculptures left in place. From 1801 to 1805 Lord Elgin dedicated himself to the collection of these artifacts with a formal authorization from the Turkish government, whose validity is still under discussion today. They were sent to England and temporarily exhibited in the Palace of Lord Elgin from 1807. In 1816 the English Parliament voted a law for their purchase. (1)
Since 1817 the Elgin Marbles are the glory of the British Museum in London. As Salvatore Settis recalled, the marbles were requested “since the dawn of Greek independence, in 1835, and then in 1864 (when England ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece) and in 1924 (centenary of the death of the Philhellenic Lord Byron ). The English also played with fire, flashing the return of the marbles in 1940-41 (as an incentive to the deployment of Greece against Germany and Italy), in the fifties (in exchange for the end of terrorism in Cyprus), and finally during the dictatorship, in exchange for a return to democracy “(2).
The new site of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, designed by Bernard Tschumi, was designed for a worthy presentation of the extraordinary sculptures removed from the temples for conservation reasons. However, the new museum was also created to demonstrate a thesis: through the visual incorporation of the famous hill and its monumental remains, made possible by the glass walls, it is claimed that this is the only appropriate destination for all which come from the site and that here they can also be appreciated in the same light conditions. (3)
To the understandable claim of Greece to the marbles by Fidia, were added those of Egypt for the recovery of works of art removed to foreign museums. These initiatives led the directors of the major museums of the world to sign the “Declaration on the importance and value of universal museums” in 2002 in support of their now historicized structure and of their actions – especially in the case of museums born between the eighteenth century and Nineteenth century – in the dissemination of culture. (4)
A few years later, while the Acropolis Museum in Athens was being set up and opened to the public in June 2009, the British Museum published a splendid collection of its sculptures (5). In its preface the director Neil Mac Gregor argued that in London and in Athens, two ways of presenting the sculptures coexist, both legitimate and for which there is no alternative, given that “the third possibility, that of reintegrating the sculptures in the same building, for reasons of conservation and access is out of the question “(6)
WHY IS THE QUESTION OF ELGIN MARBLES SO IMPORTANT?
The problem, however, is not only about who, between Greece and Britain, has more of a claim on the Marbles, but also, in perspective, the future of the great museums of post-colonial countries. (3a) The question is of great importance. What would happen if the various museums of the world were forced to “return” all their works of art from other places and cultures to their respective countries of origin? The Elgin Marbles are perhaps the most emblematic case of how the integrity of museum collections in post-colonial countries is potentially at risk for the future.
BIBLIOGRAFY:
1) L. Vlad Borrelli “Elgin Marbles” da “Enciclopedia dell’ Arte Antica” (1960) – digital source from
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/elgin-marbles_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ (Last access: 22 December 2018)
2) Salvatore Settis Nuova luce sul Partenone in “Sole 24 ore. La Domenica”, 30 novembre 2008
3) Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Il Museo nel mondo contemporaneo, Carocci editore, 2014, p. 174
3a) ibid, p. 175
4) Maria Teresa Fiorio, Il Museo nella storia, Pearson 2018, pp. 90-92
5) I. Jenkins, Sculptures of the Parthenon, British Museum Press, London, 2007
6) ibid, p.7
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!