Editing Elgin Marbles

{{Short description|Ancient Greek sculptures held in London}}
{{about|the sculptures in the British Museum|the 2006 book|The Elgin Marbles (book)|other sculptures from the same site |Parthenon Marbles}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}<!-- The name of the article is a result of current consensus. Please take any move requests through the appropriate channels after discussing the issue in the article's talk page. Thanks. -->
{{Infobox artwork
 | image_file        = Elgin-marbles-jan-2024.jpg
 | title             = Elgin Marbles
 | other_language_1  = 
 | other_title_1     = Parthenon Marbles (British Museum)
 | other_language_2  = 
 | other_title_2     = 
 | artist            = [[Phidias]]
 | year              = {{circa|447–438 BC}}
 | type              = [[Marble sculpture]]
 | height_metric     = 
 | width_metric      = 
 | length_metric     = 75
 | height_imperial   = 
 | width_imperial    = 
 | length_imperial   = 
 | imperial_unit     = 
 | metric_unit       = m
 | city              = [[British Museum]], [[London]]
 | italic title      = no
}}

The '''Elgin Marbles''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|l|ɡ|ɪ|n}} {{respell|ELG|in}})<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref> are a collection of [[Ancient Greek sculpture]]s from the [[Parthenon]] and other structures from the [[Acropolis of Athens]], removed from [[Ottoman Greece]] and shipped to Britain by agents of [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]], and now held in the [[British Museum]] in London. The majority of the sculptures were created in the 5th century BC under the direction of sculptor and architect [[Phidias]].

The term ''Parthenon Marbles'' or ''Parthenon Sculptures'' ({{langx|el|Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα}}) refers to sculptures—the [[Parthenon Frieze|frieze]], [[Metopes of the Parthenon|metopes]] and [[Pediments of the Parthenon|pediments]]—from the Parthenon held in various collections, principally the British Museum and the [[Acropolis Museum]] in Athens.{{sfn|Jenkins|2016|p=325|loc=n. 1}}

From 1801 to 1812, Elgin's agents removed about half the surviving Parthenon sculptures, as well as sculptures from the [[Erechtheion]], the [[Temple of Athena Nike]] and the [[Propylaia (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaia]], sending them to Britain in efforts to establish a private museum. Elgin stated he removed the sculptures with permission of the Ottoman officials who exercised authority in Athens at the time.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Earl of Elgin's Collection of Sculptured Marbles. |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008272383 |title=Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Earl of Elgin's collection of sculptured marbles |date=1816 |publisher=Printed for J. Murray, by W. Bulmer and Co. |place=London}}</ref> The legality of Elgin's actions has been disputed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/ |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=1–3}}</ref>

Their presence in the British Museum is the subject of longstanding international controversy. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some,<ref name="Casey22">{{Cite web |last=Casey |first=Christopher |date=30 October 2008 |title="Grecian Grandeurs and the Rude Wasting of Old Time": Britain, the Elgin Marbles, and Post-Revolutionary Hellenism |url=http://ww2.jhu.edu/foundations/?p=8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513053304/http://ww2.jhu.edu/foundations/?p=8 |archive-date=13 May 2009 |access-date=25 June 2009 |work=Foundations. Volume III, Number 1}}</ref> while others, such as [[Lord Byron]], likened Elgin's actions to vandalism or looting.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beard |first=Mary |title=The Parthenon |publisher=Profile Books |year=2002 |isbn=186197292X |location=London |pages=11–15}}</ref> A UK parliamentary inquiry in 1816 concluded that Elgin had acquired the marbles legally.<ref name="Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Earl of Elgin's Collection of Sculptured Marbles2">{{Cite news |year=1816 |title=Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Earl of Elgin's Collection of Sculptured Marbles, Printed for J. Murray, by W. Bulmer and Co., 1816 |publisher=Google ebook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwUFAAAAYAAJ&q=lord+elgin+testified+1816+british+parliamentary+committee&pg=PA35}}</ref> Elgin sold them to the British government in that year, after which they passed into the [[trustee]]ship of the British Museum. In 1983, the Greek government formally asked the UK government to return them to Greece, and listed the dispute with [[UNESCO]]. The UK government and British Museum declined UNESCO's offer of mediation. In 2021, UNESCO called upon the UK government to resolve the issue at the intergovernmental level.<ref name=":202">{{Cite web |date=September 2021 |title=Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation Twenty-Second SessionParis, UNESCO Headquarters, Room XI27-29 September 2021DECISIONS |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379856/PDF/379856eng.pdf.multi |access-date=8 January 2023 |website=UNESCO}}</ref>

The Greek government and supporters of the marbles' return to Greece have argued that they were obtained illegally or unethically, that they are of exceptional cultural importance to Greece, and that their cultural value would be best appreciated in a unified public display with the other major Parthenon antiquities in the Acropolis Museum. The UK government and British Museum have argued that they were obtained legally, that their return would set a precedent which could undermine the collections of the major museums of world culture, and that the British Museum's collection allows them to be better viewed in the context of other major ancient cultures and thus complements the perspective provided by the Acropolis Museum. Discussions between UK and Greek officials are ongoing.<ref name=":172">{{cite news |date=3 December 2022 |title=Greece in 'preliminary' talks with British Museum about Parthenon marbles |first=Helena |last=Smith |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/03/greece-in-preliminary-talks-with-british-museum-about-parthenon-marbles |access-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208001447/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/03/greece-in-preliminary-talks-with-british-museum-about-parthenon-marbles |archive-date=8 December 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":212">{{cite news |title=British Museum says in 'constructive' discussions over Parthenon marbles |work=[[Reuters]] |date=4 January 2023 |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/british-museum-says-constructive-discussions-over-parthenon-marbles-2023-01-04/ |access-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201112458/https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/british-museum-says-constructive-discussions-over-parthenon-marbles-2023-01-04/ |archive-date=1 December 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Name==
The Elgin Marbles are named after the 7th Earl of Elgin, who, between 1801 and 1812, oversaw their removal from the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaia and their shipment to England.<ref name=":233">{{Cite web |title=The Parthenon Sculptures |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/parthenon-sculptures |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=The British Museum}}</ref> By an act of parliament, the [[British Museum Act 1816]], the collection was transferred to the British Museum on the condition that it be kept together and named "the Elgin Marbles".<ref>Jenkins (2016). pp 109–110</ref> The term "Parthenon Marbles" or "Parthenon Sculptures" refers to the sculptures and architectural features removed specifically from the Parthenon.{{sfn|Jenkins|2016|p=325|loc=n. 1}} These are currently held in seven museums around the world, principally the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum.<ref>Beard (2002, pp. 11–12) counts nine museums, but this was before the restitutions made by Heidelberg University and the Vatican Museums.</ref> The term "Parthenon Sculptures" is used in this sense by both the British Museum and the Greek government.<ref name=":233"/>

Mario Trabucco della Torretta argues that partisans of retention often prefer the term "Elgin Marbles" and those advocating restitution prefer "Parthenon Sculptures" or "Parthenon Marbles".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Trabucco della Torretta |first1=Mario |title=What's in a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures' name? |url=https://thecritic.co.uk/whats-in-a-collection-of-ancient-greek-sculptures-name/ |website=The Critic |date=1 December 2023 |access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref>

==Background==
The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens from 447 BCE as a temple to the goddess Athena. It is likely that Phidias was responsible for the sculptural design. In subsequent centuries the building was converted into a church and a mosque and the sculptures were extensively damaged, although the building remained structurally sound.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/ |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=12–13, 19–20}}</ref> During the [[Morean War|Sixth Ottoman–Venetian War (1684–1699)]], the defending Turks fortified the Acropolis and used the Parthenon as a gunpowder store. On 26 September 1687, a Venetian artillery round ignited the gunpowder, and the resulting explosion blew out the central portion of the Parthenon and caused the [[cella]]'s walls to crumble into rubble.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mommsen |first=Theodor E. |year=1941 |title=The Venetians in Athens and the Destruction of the Parthenon in 1687 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=544–556 |doi=10.2307/499533 |jstor=499533}}</ref><ref name="Rathus">{{cite book | last = Fichner-Rathus | first = Lois | title = Understanding Art | publisher = Cengage Learning |edition = 10th | year = 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JPlYOG52w2UC&pg=PT324 | page = 305 |isbn=978-1-111-83695-5}}</ref> Three of the four walls collapsed, or nearly so, and about three-fifths of the sculptures from the frieze fell.<ref name="Chatziaslani">{{cite web |last=Chatziaslani |first=Kornilia |title=Morosini in Athens |publisher=Archaeology of the City of Athens |url=http://www.eie.gr/archaeologia/En/chapter_more_8.aspx | access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> About 300 people were killed in the explosion, which showered marble fragments over a significant area.<ref name="Tomkinson2">{{cite web |last=Tomkinson |first=John L. |title=Venetian Athens: Venetian Interlude (1684–1689) |publisher=Anagnosis Books |url=http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=217 |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221546/http://www.anagnosis.gr/index.php?la=eng&pageID=217 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For the next century and a half, portions of the remaining structure were scavenged for building material and many valuable objects were removed.<ref name="Grafton">{{cite book|last = Grafton| first = Anthony|author2=Glenn W. Most |author3=Salvatore Settis | title = The Classical Tradition| publisher = Harvard University Press| year = 2010| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&pg=PA693 |page=693 |isbn=978-0-674-03572-0}}</ref><ref name=":13" />

==Acquisition==
[[File:East pediment O Parthenon BM n2.jpg|thumb|Parthenon Selene Horse]]
[[File:The Parthenon sculptures, British Museum (14063376069) (2) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Metope from the Elgin Marbles depicting a [[Centaur]] and a [[Lapith]] fighting]]
In November 1798, the Earl of Elgin was appointed as "Ambassador Extraordinary and [[Plenipotentiary|Minister Plenipotentiary]] of His Britannic Majesty to the Sublime Porte of [[Selim III]], Sultan of Turkey" (Greece was then [[Ottoman Greece|part of the Ottoman Empire]]). Before his departure to take up the post, he had approached officials of the British government to inquire if they would be interested in employing artists to take casts and drawings of the sculptured portions of the Parthenon. According to Elgin, "the answer of the Government&nbsp;... was entirely negative."<ref name="Casey22"/>

Elgin decided to carry out the work himself, and employed artists to take casts and drawings under the supervision of the [[Parthenopaean Republic|Neapolitan]] court painter, [[Giovanni Battista Lusieri|Giovanni Lusieri]].<ref name="Casey22"/> Although his original intention was only to document the sculptures, in 1801 Elgin began to remove material from the Parthenon and its surrounding structures under the supervision of Lusieri. According to a Turkish local, marble sculptures that fell were being burned to obtain [[lime (material)|lime]] for building, and comparison with previously published drawings documented the state of rapid decay of the remains.<ref name="Casey22"/> Pieces were also removed from the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the Temple of Athena Nike, all inside the Acropolis.<ref name=":233"/>

They were brought from Greece to Malta, then a [[Malta Protectorate|British protectorate]], where they remained for a number of years until they were transported to Britain.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Busuttil|first1=Cynthia|title=Dock 1 made from ancient ruins?|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090726/local/dock-1-made-from-ancient-ruins.266812|access-date=15 March 2015|work=[[The Times (Malta)|The Times]]|date=26 July 2009}}</ref> The excavation and removal was completed in 1812 at a personal cost to Elgin of £74,240<ref name="Casey22"/><ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Online{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184554/Elgin-Marbles |title=Elgin Marbles |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=18 April 2021}}</ref> (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK-GDP|70000|1812|fmt=c|r=-4}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}} pounds). Elgin intended to use the marbles to enhance the art of Britain,<ref>Jenkins (2016). pp. 96, 102</ref> and his ultimate goal had been for them to be purchased by the Government.<ref name=":14" />

To build the case for the public expenditure, Elgin bought a house in London and set up the sculptures there as a private museum, making them accessible to artists, and eventually, the public.<ref>St.Clair (1998), pp. 162–172</ref> Elgin resumed negotiations for the sale of the collection to the British Museum in 1811, but talks failed when the government offered only £30,000; less than half of his expenses relating to them.<ref>St Clair (1967). pp. 184–186</ref> The following years marked an increased interest in classical Greece, and Elgin procured testimonials from [[Ennio Quirino Visconti]], director of the Louvre, and [[Antonio Canova]] of the Vatican Museum, who affirmed the high artistic value of the marbles.<ref>St Clair (1967). pp. 220–228</ref> In 1816, a House of Commons Select Committee, established at Lord Elgin's request, found that they were of high artistic value and recommended that the government purchase them for £35,000 to further the cultivation of the fine arts in Britain.<ref name=":4">St Clair (1967). pp. 250–260</ref><ref>Jenkins (2016). p. 107</ref> In June 1816, after further debate, parliament approved the purchase of the marbles by a vote of 82–30. The marbles were transferred to the British Museum on 8 August.<ref name=":10">Jenkins (2016). pp. 109–110</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Parthenon_section_annotated.svg|thumb|Annotated sectional view of the Parthenon with parts in the British Museum shaded]]
{{Main|Parthenon Frieze|Metopes of the Parthenon|Pediments of the Parthenon}}

The marbles acquired by Elgin include some 21 figures from the statuary from the east and west [[pediment]]s, 15 of an original 92 [[Metope (architecture)|metope]] panels depicting battles between the [[Lapiths]] and the [[centaur]]s, as well as 75 metres of the [[Parthenon Frieze|Parthenon frieze]] which decorated the horizontal course set above the interior architrave of the temple. As such, they represent more than half of what now remains of the surviving sculptural decoration of the Parthenon.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=9 January 2023 |title=The Parthenon Sculptures |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/parthenon-sculptures |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=The British Museum}}</ref>

Elgin's acquisitions also included objects from other buildings on the Athenian Acropolis – a [[caryatid]] from the Erechtheion; four slabs from the parapet frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike; and a number of other architectural fragments of the Parthenon, Propylaia, Erechtheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike – as well as the [[Treasury of Atreus]] in [[Mycenae]].<ref name=":1" />

The British Museum also holds additional fragments from the Acropolis, acquired from various collections without connection to Elgin, such as those of [[Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois]],<ref>{{cite web | date=24 September 2024 | title=British Museum Catalogue entry for item 1840.1111.5 |  url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1840-1111-5 | website= The British Museum}}</ref> [[William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire]],<ref>{{cite web | date=24 September 2024 |title=British Museum Catalogue entry for item 1854.0513.1 |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1854-0513-1| website= The British Museum}}</ref> and the [[Society of Dilettanti]].<ref>{{cite web | date=24 September 2024 |title=British Museum Catalogue entry for item 1816.0610.29-30a | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1816-0610-29-30-a | website= The British Museum}}</ref>

==Legality of removal from Athens==
In February 1816, a House of Commons Select Committee held public hearings on whether Elgin had acquired the marbles legally and whether they should be purchased by the government.<ref name=":4" /> In his evidence to the committee,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Earl of Elgin's collection of sculptured marbles; &c |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008272383/page/n39/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2023 |website=Internet Archive}}</ref> Elgin stated that the work of his agents at the Acropolis, and the removal of the marbles, were authorised by a ''[[firman]]'' (a generic term employed by Western travellers to signify any official Ottoman order) from the Ottoman government obtained in July 1801, and was undertaken with the approval of the ''voivode'' (civil governor of Athens) and the ''[[dizdar]]'' (military commander of the Acropolis citadel). In March 1810, another ''firman'' was obtained, authorising the second shipment of marbles from Athens to Britain.<ref>Williams (2009). p. 23</ref> Elgin told the committee, "the thing was done publicly before the whole world{{nbsp}}... and all the local authorities were concerned in it, as well as the Turkish government".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Dyfri |date=2009 |title=Lord Elgin's Firman |journal=Journal of the History of Collections |pages=1–28}}</ref>

The committee cleared Elgin of all allegations that he had acquired the marbles illegally or had misused his powers as ambassador.<ref name=":4" /> Elgin's version of events, however, remains controversial. No official record of the July 1801 ''firman'' has been found in the Turkish archives.<ref name="Nation2">{{cite journal |author1=David Rudenstein |date=29 May 2000 |title=Did Elgin Cheat at Marbles? |journal=Nation |volume=270 |issue=21 |page=30 |quote=Yet no researcher has ever located this Ottoman document and when l was in Instanbul I searched in vain for it or any copy of it, or any reference to it in other sorts of documents or a description of its substantive terms in any related official papers. Although a document of some sort may have existed, it seems to have vanished into thin air, despite the fact the Ottoman archives contain an enormous number of similar documents from the period.}}</ref> An Italian translation of the purported ''firman'' is held by the British Museum, and an English translation was submitted to the 1816 Select Committee.<ref name=":2">St Clair, William: Lord Elgin and the Marbles. Oxford University Press, US, 3rd ed., (1998)</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web |title=firman |url=http://www.parthenon.newmentor.net/firman.htm |work=newmentor.net}}</ref> The document states in part,<ref>Williams (2009). pp. 6–7</ref>

{{Blockquote
|that it be written and ordered that the said painters [Elgin's men] while they are occupied in entering and leaving by the gate of the Castle of the City, which is the place for their observations, in setting up scaffolding round the ancient temple of the Idols [the Parthenon], and taking moulds in lime paste (that is plaster) of the same ornaments, and visible figures, in measuring the remains of other ruined buildings, and in undertaking to excavate, according to need, the foundations to find any inscribed blocks, which may have been preserved in the rubble, be not disturbed, nor in any way impeded by the Commandant of the Castle, nor any other person, and that no one meddle with their scaffolding, and implements, which they may have made there; and should they wish to take away any pieces of stone with old inscriptions, and figures, that no opposition be made.}}

Vassilis Demetriades, of the University of Crete, argues that the document is not a ''firman'' (a decree from the Sultan), or a ''buyuruldi'' (an order from the [[Grand vizier|Grand Vizier]]), but a ''mektub'' (official letter) from the Sultan's acting Grand Vizier which did not have the force of law.<ref name="firman23">{{cite web |last=Demetriades |first=Vassilis |title=Was the removal of the marbles illegal? |url=http://www.parthenon.newmentor.net/illegal.htm |work=newmentor.net}}</ref> [[Dyfri Williams]] states that although the document is not a ''firman'' in the technical sense, the term was widely used informally in diplomatic and court circles to refer to a range of official Ottoman documents. He argues that the document is possibly a ''buyuruldi'', but "[w]hatever the exact form of the document was, it clearly had to be obeyed, and it was."<ref>Williams (2009). pp. 8–12</ref> Historian Edhem Eldem also argues for the likely authenticity of the document and calls it a firman in the broad meaning of the word.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eldem |first=Edhem |date=2011 |editor-last1=Barani |editor-first1=Zainab |editor-last2=Celik |editor-first2=Zeynep |editor-last3=Eldem |editor-first3=Edhem |title=Scramble for the Past. A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753–1914 |publisher=Istanbul, SALT |pages=281–328 |chapter=From Blissful Indifference to Anguished Concern: Ottoman Perceptions of Antiquities, 1799–1869 |isbn=}}</ref>

[[File:Parthenon pediment statues.jpg|thumb|Statuary from the east [[pediment]]]]
There is debate over whether the document authorised Elgin's agents to remove sculptures attached to the Parthenon and other structures. Demetriades, [[David Rudenstine]] and others argue that the document only authorised Elgin's party to remove artefacts recovered from the permitted excavations, not those still attached to buildings.<ref name="firman23"/><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Rudenstein |first=David |date=29 May 2000 |title=Did Elgin Cheat at Marbles? |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Did+Elgin+Cheat+at+Marbles%3F-a062102045 |journal=The Nation}}</ref> Williams argues that the document was "rather open ended" and that the civil governor agreed with Hunt's interpretation that it allowed Elgin's party to remove sculptures fixed to buildings.<ref>Williams (2009). p. 20</ref> Beard concludes, "No amount of poring over the text can provide the answer. As often with documents sent out from head office, the precise interpretation would rest with men carrying out the orders on the spot."<ref>Beard (2002). p. 91</ref>

Legal academic John Henry Merryman argues that the document provides only "slender authority" for the removal of the fixed sculptures, but that legally Elgin's actions were ratified by the conduct of Ottoman officials. In 1802, Ottoman officials in Constantinople issued documents to the civil governor and the military commander of Athens ratifying their conduct and, in March 1810, issued a command allowing Elgin to transport a shipment of marbles from Greece to Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Merryman |first=John |date=1985 |title=Thinking About the Elgin Marbles |url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol83/iss8/3/ |journal=Michigan Law Review |volume=83 |issue=8 |pages=1899|doi=10.2307/1288954 |jstor=1288954 }}</ref>

Legal academic Catharine Titi states that Sir [[Robert Adair (politician)|Robert Adair]] reported that the Ottomans in 1811 "absolutely denied" that Elgin had any property in the sculptures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Titi |first=Catharine |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |title=The Parthenon Marbles and International Law |date=2023 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-031-26356-9 |pages=79–81 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6}}</ref> Legal scholar Alexander Herman and historian Edhem Eldem state that documents in the Turkish archives show that this denial was only a delaying tactic for reasons of diplomacy, and that the Porte eventually granted permission for the transport of the marbles to Britain later in 1811.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url= |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=45–46}}</ref><ref>BOA, HAT 1277/49548, AH 1225 (AD 1810), quoted in Eldem (2011), p. 292</ref>

A number of eyewitnesses to the removal of the marbles from the Acropolis, including members of Elgin's party, stated that expensive bribes and gifts to local officials were required to ensure their work progressed.<ref name="Edward Daniel Clarke 1818 223ff2">{{Cite book |first=Edward Daniel |last=Clarke |title=Travels in various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa Part the Second Greece Egypt and the Holy Land Section the Second Fourth Edition Volume the Sixth |publisher=T. Cadell |year=1818 |location=London |page=223ff}}</ref> It is suggested that "little money" was paid to the disdar, and only to induce him to continue the work. No money is ever mentioned for the commencement of the work, which is due to the official authorisation.<ref>Williams (2019). pp. 13, 19</ref> Merryman argues that bribery would not have rendered the acquisition of the marbles illegal by the standards of the time:<ref>Merryman (1985). p. 1901–1902</ref>

{{Blockquote|The Ottomans who were bribed were the responsible officials. Whatever their motivation may have been, they had the legal authority to perform those actions. At a time and in a culture in which officials routinely had to be bribed to perform their legal duties (as is still true today in much of the world), the fact that bribes occurred was hardly a significant legal consideration.}}

Rudenstine, states that further investigation would be required to determine whether, at the time, bribery would have been a significant legal consideration in such official transactions under Ottoman or British law.<ref>Rudenstine (1999) p. 370</ref> Herman argues that bribing officials was illegal under British and Ottoman law at the time, but that the Porte took no action against its officials in Athens and therefore tacitly tolerated their actions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url= |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=46–48}}</ref>

In May 2024, a spokesperson for Turkey, which is a successor or the continuing state of the Ottoman Empire,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Öktem |first=Emre |date=August 2011 |title=Turkey: Successor or Continuing State of the Ottoman Empire? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/leiden-journal-of-international-law/article/abs/turkey-successor-or-continuing-state-of-the-ottoman-empire/B3512009F20CED7173E9D27E37A5EE83 |journal=Leiden Journal of International Law |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |page=561 |doi=10.1017/S0922156511000252 |issn=1478-9698}}</ref> denied knowledge of the firman and stated that Turkey supported the return of the marbles. The spokesman stated that the marbles' removal was carried out by "UK colonialists", adding: "I don't think there's room to discuss its legality, even during the time and under the law of the time."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zois |first=Nikolas |date=4 June 2024 |title=Turkey denies firman giving Lord Elgin rights to sell Parthenon Sculptures |url=https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1240571/turkey-denies-firman-giving-lord-elgin-rights-to-sell-parthenon-sculptures/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[Kathimerini]]}}</ref> In response, archaeologist Mario Trabucco della Torretta states that scholars consider that the British copy of the firman is genuine and that it is arguable that it did grant Elgin permission to remove the sculptures.<ref name=":14">{{cite news |last=Trabucco della Torretta |first=Mario|date= 19 August 2024|title=We mustn't lose our Marbles! |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20240819/282110641929563?srsltid=AfmBOorQtcw0t7cXAs-LtFeYs0OvLCkm-sgXtQ_D2VF6X8IuYIyEJwIr |work= Daily Express |access-date= 24 September 2024}}</ref>

==Contemporary reaction{{anchor | Criticism by Elgin's contemporaries}}==

When, in 1807, Elgin put the first shipment of marbles on display in London<ref name="Jenkins 2016. p. 102">Jenkins (2016). p. 102</ref> they were "an instant success among many"<ref name="Casey22"/> who admired the sculptures and supported their arrival. The sculptor [[John Flaxman]] thought them superior to "the treasures of Italy",<ref name=":12">Jenkins (2016). pp. 102–104</ref> and Benjamin West called them "sublime specimens of the purest sculpture".<ref>William St Clair (1967). p. 167</ref> [[Henry Fuseli]] was enthusiastic, and his friend [[Benjamin Haydon]] became a tireless advocate for their importance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=St. Clair |first=William |title=Lord Elgin and the Marbles |publisher=Oxford |year=1967 |edition=1st |location=London |pages=169–172}}</ref> Classicist [[Richard Payne Knight]], however, declared they were Roman additions or the work of inferior craftsmen, and painter [[Ozias Humphry|Ozias Humphrey]] called them "a mass of ruins".<ref name=":12" />

[[File:Elgin Marbles 4.jpg|thumb|Western frieze, II, 2]]

[[Lord Byron]], a few years later, strongly objected to the removal of the marbles from Greece, denouncing Elgin as a vandal.<ref name="BritA2">Encyclopædia Britannica, ''The Acropolis'', p. 6/20, 2008, O.Ed.</ref> In his narrative poem ''[[Childe Harold's Pilgrimage]]'', published in 1812, he wrote in relation to the Parthenon:<ref>{{cite news |date=14 July 2014 |title=The story of the Elgin Marbles |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |url=http://www.elginism.com/20040720/90/ |url-status=dead |access-date=25 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025153529/http://www.elginism.com/20040720/90/ |archive-date=25 October 2011}}</ref>

{{poemquote|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!}}

Byron was not the only one to protest against the removal at the time. [[Sir John Newport, 1st Baronet|Sir John Newport]] said:<ref name="newsweek stones22">{{cite magazine |title=Romancing the Stones |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/200852 |magazine=Newsweek |access-date=25 June 2009}}</ref>{{blockquote|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.}}[[Edward Daniel Clarke]] witnessed the removal of the metopes and called the action a "spoliation", writing that "thus the form of the temple has sustained a greater injury than it had already experienced from the Venetian artillery", and that "neither was there a workman employed in the undertaking{{nbsp}}... who did not express his concern that such havoc should be deemed necessary, after moulds and casts had been already made of all the sculpture which it was designed to remove."<ref name="Edward Daniel Clarke 1818 223ff2"/> When Sir [[Francis Ronalds]] visited Athens and [[Giovanni Battista Lusieri]] in 1820, he wrote that "If Lord Elgin had possessed real taste in lieu of a covetous spirit he would have done just the reverse of what he has, he would have removed the rubbish and left the antiquities."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ronalds |first=B.F. |title=Sir Francis Ronalds: Father of the Electric Telegraph |publisher=Imperial College Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78326-917-4 |location=London |page=60}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Francis Ronalds' Travel Journal: Athens |url=http://www.sirfrancisronalds.co.uk/athens.html |access-date=22 February 2018 |website=Sir Francis Ronalds and his Family}}</ref>

[[File:Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A portrait depicting the Elgin Marbles in a temporary Elgin Room at the [[British Museum]] surrounded by museum staff, a trustee and visitors, 1819]]
In 1810, Elgin published a defence of his actions, in which he argued that he had only decided to remove the marbles when he realised that they were not being cared for by Ottoman officials and were in danger of falling into the hands of [[Napoleon]]'s army.<ref>St Clair (1967). p. 182</ref><ref name="BritB2">''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Elgin Marbles", 2008, online ed.</ref>

[[Felicia Hemans]] supported the purchase of the marbles and in her ''Modern Greece: A Poem'' (1817), defied Byron with the question:
{{poemquote|And who may grieve that, rescued from their hands,
Spoilers of excellence and foes of art,
Thy relics, Athens! borne to other lands
Claim homage still to thee from every heart?}}

and quoted Haydon and other defenders of their accessibility in her notes.<ref>''Modern Greece'', London 1817, [https://books.google.com/books?id=A1QVAAAAQAAJ pp. 45, 65–66]</ref>

[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] thought the British government's decision to buy the marbles would herald "a new age of great art".<ref name=":0" /> The marbles went on public display in a temporary room of the British Museum in 1817 and soon broke attendance records for the museum.<ref>Jenkins (2016). p. 110</ref> [[John Keats]] visited the British Museum in 1817, recording his feelings in the [[sonnet]] titled "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles". Some lines of his "[[Ode on a Grecian Urn]]" are also thought to have been inspired by his visit to the Elgin Marbles.<ref name=":0">Beard (2002) p. 16</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chamberlain |first=Tim |date=2005 |title=The Elusive Urn |url=https://www.academia.edu/1532559 |journal=The British Museum Magazine |issue=52 |pages=36–38}}</ref> [[William Wordsworth]] also viewed the marbles and commented favourably on their aesthetics in a letter to Haydon.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Andrew |last=Bennett |title=William Wordsworth in Context |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |page=304}}</ref>

The marbles were later displayed in the specially constructed Elgin Saloon (1832) and became the preferred models for academic training in fine arts. Plaster casts of the marbles were in high demand and were distributed to museums, private collectors and heads of state throughout the world.<ref name=":5">Jenkins (2016). p. 111</ref><ref name=":7">Beard (2002). pp. 16–18</ref> They were moved to the Duveen Gallery, named after [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen]], in 1939 where they continued to attract record attendances.<ref name="Casey22" />

==Damage==
=== Late antiquity and Byzantine era ===
Sometime after the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church in the 6th-century CE, the metopes of the north, west and east facades of the Parthenon were defaced by Christians in order to remove images of pagan deities. The damage was so extensive that the images on the affected metopes often can't be confidently identified.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwab |first=Katherine A |title=The Parthenon, from Antiquity to the Present |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-521-82093-6 |editor-last=Neils |editor-first=Jennifer |location=New York |pages=165 |chapter=Celebrations of Victory: The Metopes of the Parthenon}}</ref><ref>Robert Ousterhout (2005) "'Bestride the Very Peak of Heaven': The Parthenon after Antiquity." In Neils (ed). ''The Parthenon, from Antiquity to the Present.'' pp. 306–307</ref>

===Venetians===
[[File:Elgin Marbles east pediment.jpg|thumb|Statuary from the East Pediment]]
The Venetian bombardment of the Parthenon in 1687 seriously damaged the majority of sculptures, including some of those later removed by Elgin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://traumwerk.stanford.edu:3455/Archaeopaedia/198 |title=Stanford Archaeopedia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314025855/http://traumwerk.stanford.edu:3455/Archaeopaedia/198 |archive-date=14 March 2008}}</ref> Further damage to the Parthenon's artwork occurred when the Venetian general [[Francesco Morosini]] attempted to remove some of the larger sculptures. During the operation, a sculpture of Poseidon and two horses of [[Athena]]'s chariot fell and broke into pieces. Several sculptures and fragments were removed by the Venetians.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/ |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=20–21}}</ref>

===Elgin===
Elgin consulted with Italian sculptor [[Antonio Canova]] in 1803 about how best to restore the marbles. Canova was considered by some to be the world's best sculptural restorer of the time; Elgin wrote that Canova declined to work on the marbles for fear of damaging them further.<ref name="Casey22"/>

To facilitate transport by Elgin, the columns' capitals and many metopes and frieze slabs were either hacked off the main structure or sawn and sliced into smaller sections, causing irreparable damage to the Parthenon itself.<ref name="Greek Ministry of Culture: Memorandum on the Parthenon Marbles">{{Cite news |url=http://www.yppo.gr/4/marm/memorandum-gr.pdf |title=Greek Government's Memorandum |publisher=Greek Ministry of Culture |access-date=19 October 2014 |archive-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019102204/http://www.yppo.gr/4/marm/memorandum-gr.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/arts/design/28ouro.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin Where Gods Yearn for Long-Lost Treasures] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016235933/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/arts/design/28ouro.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin |date=16 October 2015}}, ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> One shipload of marbles on board the British brig ''[[Mentor (brig)|Mentor]]''<ref name="The Wreck of the Mentor on the Coast of the Island of Kythera and the Operation to Retrieve, Salvage, and Transport the Parthenon Sculptures to London">{{Cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/376886 |title=The Wreck of the Mentor on the Coast of the Island of Kythera and the Operation to Retrieve, Salvage, and Transport the Parthenon Sculptures to London (1802–1805) |publisher=Arts Books, Athens|last1=Leontsinis |first1=George }}</ref> was caught in a storm off [[Cape Matapan]] in southern Greece and sank near [[Kythera]], but was salvaged at the Earl's personal expense;<ref name="British Museum releases">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press_releases/statements/parthenon_sculptures/parthenon_-_facts_and_figures.aspx |title=The Parthenon Sculptures |publisher=British Museum}}</ref> it took two years to bring them to the surface.

===British Museum===

[[File:Tools used for the cleaning of the Elgin Marbles.JPG|thumb|upright|Tools used to clean the marbles in 1937–38<ref>[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], [http://www.iiconservation.org/publications/sic/2002/sic47abstracts.php Andrew Oddy The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402032539/http://www.iiconservation.org/publications/sic/2002/sic47abstracts.php |date=2 April 2016}}, '''47'''(3).</ref> ]]
The artefacts held in London suffered from 19th-century pollution which persisted until the mid-20th century and have suffered irreparable damage by previous cleaning methods employed by British Museum staff.<ref>[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 47, no. 3, (2002), pp. 145–146, Quote: "However, for a short time in the late 1930s copper scrapers were used to remove areas of discolouration from the surface of the Elgin Marbles. New information is presented about this lamentable episode."</ref>

As early as 1838, scientist [[Michael Faraday]] was asked to provide a solution to the problem of the deteriorating surface of the marbles. The outcome is described in the following excerpt from the letter he sent to Henry Milman, a commissioner for the [[National Gallery, London|National Gallery]].<ref>[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 47, no. 3, (2002), p. 146</ref><ref>Jenkins, I., '"Sir, they are scrubbing the Elgin Marbles!"&nbsp;– some controversial cleanings of the Parthenon Sculptures', ''Minerva'' 10(6) (1999) 43–45.</ref>
<blockquote>
The marbles generally were very dirty&nbsp;... from a deposit of dust and soot.&nbsp;... I found the body of the marble beneath the surface white.&nbsp;... The application of water, applied by a sponge or soft cloth, removed the coarsest dirt.&nbsp;... The use of fine, gritty powder, with the water and rubbing, though it more quickly removed the upper dirt, left much embedded in the cellular surface of the marble. I then applied alkalies, both carbonated and caustic; these quickened the loosening of the surface dirt&nbsp;... but they fell far short of restoring the marble surface to its proper hue and state of cleanliness. I finally used dilute nitric acid, and even this failed.&nbsp;... The examination has made me despair of the possibility of presenting the marbles in the British Museum in that state of purity and whiteness which they originally possessed.</blockquote>

A further effort to clean the marbles ensued in 1858. [[Richard Westmacott]], who was appointed superintendent of the "moving and cleaning the sculptures" in 1857, in a letter approved by the British Museum Standing Committee on 13 March 1858 concluded<ref>[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 47, no. 3, (2002), p. 148</ref>
<blockquote>
I think it my duty to say that some of the works are much damaged by ignorant or careless moulding&nbsp;– with oil and lard&nbsp;– and by restorations in wax and resin. These mistakes have caused discolouration. I shall endeavour to remedy this without, however, having recourse to any composition that can injure the surface of the marble.</blockquote>
Yet another effort to clean the marbles occurred in 1937–38. This time the incentive was provided by the construction of a new Gallery to house the collection. The Pentelic marble mined from [[Mount Pentelicus]] north of Athens, from which the sculptures are made, naturally acquires a tan colour similar to honey when exposed to air; this colouring is often known as the marble's "patina"<ref>Gardner, Ernest Arthur: A Handbook of Greek Sculpture. Published 1896 Macmillan; [https://web.archive.org/web/20200220080513/https://books.google.com/books/pdf/A_Handbook_of_Greek_Sculpture.pdf%3Fid%3DFZkCAAAAYAAJ%26output%3Dpdf%26sig%3DSxrIRuctayFp6t99OkFn_OoksOw]</ref> but [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen|Lord Duveen]], who financed the whole undertaking, acting under the misconception that the marbles were originally white<ref name="oddy149">[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 47, no. 3, (2002), p. 149</ref> probably arranged for the team of masons working in the project to remove discolouration from some of the sculptures. The tools used were seven scrapers, one chisel and a piece of [[Silicon carbide|carborundum]] stone. They are now deposited in the British Museum's Department of Preservation.<ref name="oddy149"/><ref name="BMScandal">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/543077.stm|title=Museum admits 'scandal' of Elgin Marbles|work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=1 December 1999 |access-date=3 January 2010}}</ref> The cleaning process scraped away some of the detailed tone of many carvings.<ref>Paterakis AB. [Untitled]. Studies in Conservation 46(1): 79–80, 2001 [https://web.archive.org/web/20181004151928/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1506885]</ref> According to [[Harold Plenderleith]], the surface removed in some places may have been as much as {{convert|1/10|in|mm|adj=pre|of a|spell=in}}.<ref name="oddy149"/>

The British Museum responded by saying that "mistakes were made at that time."<ref name="guardian">[https://www.theguardian.com/parthenon/article/0,,195563,00.html mistakes were made at that time] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605154549/http://www.guardian.co.uk/parthenon/article/0%2C%2C195563%2C00.html |date=5 June 2008}}, ''[[The Guardian]]''.</ref> On another occasion, it was said that "the damage had been exaggerated for political reasons" and that "the Greeks were guilty of excessive cleaning of the marbles before they were brought to Britain."<ref name=BMScandal/> During the international symposium on the cleaning of the marbles, organised by the British Museum in 1999, curator [[Ian Jenkins (curator)|Ian Jenkins]], deputy keeper of Greek and Roman antiquities, remarked that "The British Museum is not infallible, it is not the Pope. Its history has been a series of good intentions marred by the occasional cock-up, and the 1930s cleaning was such a cock-up". Nonetheless, he claimed that the prime cause for the damage inflicted upon the marbles was the 2000-year-long weathering on the Acropolis.<ref name="autogenerated7">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/01/maevkennedy |title=Mutual attacks mar Elgin Marbles debate | work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=29 December 2008 | location=London | first=Maev | last=Kennedy | date=1 December 1999}}</ref>

In a newspaper article, American archaeologist [[Dorothy King]] wrote that techniques similar to those used in 1937–1938 were applied by Greeks as well in more recent decades than the British, and maintained that Italians still find them acceptable.<ref name="guardian faq">{{cite news |last=King |first=Dorothy |date=21 July 2004 |title=Elgin Marbles: fact or fiction? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/jul/21/highereducation.parthenon |access-date=25 June 2009 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> The British Museum said that a similar cleaning of the [[Temple of Hephaestus]] in the [[Ancient Agora of Athens|Athenian Agora]] was carried out by the conservation team of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens<ref name="autogenerated3">J. M. Cook and John Boardman, "Archaeology in Greece, 1953", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 74, (1954), p. 147</ref> in 1953 using steel chisels and brass wire.<ref name="British Museum releases"/> According to the [[Ministry of Culture (Greece)|Greek ministry of Culture]], the cleaning was carefully limited to surface salt crusts.<ref name=autogenerated7 /> The 1953 American report concluded that the techniques applied were aimed at removing the black deposit formed by rain-water and "brought out the high technical quality of the carving" revealing at the same time "a few surviving particles of colour".<ref name="autogenerated3" />
[[File:Elgin marbles frieze.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Section of a frieze from the Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles]]

A 2023 study by Emma Payne concluded that the damage from the 1930s cleaning was minor and needed to be considered in the context of the time.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2023/2023.08.24/ | title= Casting the Parthenon sculptures: from the eighteenth century to the digital age | journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review | date=24 August 2023}}</ref> Studies of the surface of the sculptures with archaeometric techniques, including Visible-Induced Luminescence (VIL), have revealed multiple traces of ancient polychromy on the sculptures, corroborating the idea that the cleaning damage was less extensive than previously thought.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Verri |first1=Giovanni |last2=Granger-Taylor |first2=Hero |last3=Jenkins |first3=Ian |last4=Sweek |first4=Tracey |last5=Weglowska |first5=Katarzyna |last6=Wootton |first6=William Thomas |title=The goddess' new clothes: the carving and polychromy of the Parthenon Sculptures |journal=Antiquity |date=October 2023 |volume=97 |issue=395 |pages=1173–1192 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2023.130 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/goddess-new-clothes-the-carving-and-polychromy-of-the-parthenon-sculptures/9D7277925E339AC98642081CBAAD8794 |access-date=24 September 2024}}</ref>

Documents released by the British Museum under the [[Freedom of Information Act 2000|Freedom of Information Act]] revealed that a series of minor accidents, thefts and acts of vandalism by visitors have inflicted further damage to the sculptures.<ref name="telegraph">Hastings, Chris. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1490023/Revealed-how-rowdy-schoolboys-knocked-a-leg-off-one-of-the-Elgin-Marbles.html Revealed: how rowdy schoolboys knocked a leg off one of the Elgin Marbles] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407143411/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1490023/Revealed-how-rowdy-schoolboys-knocked-a-leg-off-one-of-the-Elgin-Marbles.html |date=7 April 2016}}, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 May 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2010.</ref> This includes an incident in 1961 when two schoolboys knocked off a part of a [[centaur]]'s leg, and in 1966 four shallow lines were scratched on the back of one of the figures by vandals. In 1970, letters were scratched on to the upper right thigh of another figure. Four years later, the dowel hole in a centaur's hoof was damaged by thieves trying to extract pieces of lead.<ref name="telegraph"/> In June 1981, a west pediment figure was slightly chipped by a falling glass skylight.

==Return controversy==
===Greek requests for return===
In 1836, King Otto of the newly independent Greece, formally asked the British government to return some of the Elgin Marbles (the four slabs of the frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike). In 1846, following a request from Greece, Britain sent a complete set of casts of the Parthenon frieze, and in 1890, the city of Athens unsuccessfully requested the return of the original frieze. In 1927, the Greek minister in London unsuccessfully asked for the return of some architectural fragments.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url= |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=68}}</ref> In 1983, the Greek government formally asked the UK government to return "all the sculptures which were removed from the Acropolis of Athens and are at present in the British Museum", and in 1984, it listed the dispute with UNESCO.<ref name=":202"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url= |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |page=71}}</ref> In 2000, a select committee of the UK parliament held an inquiry into the illegal trade in cultural property, which considered the dispute over the marbles. The committee heard evidence from the then Greek foreign minister, [[George Papandreou]], who argued that the question of legal ownership was secondary to the ethical and cultural arguments for returning the sculptures. The committee, however, made no recommendations on the future of the marbles.<ref name="Beard 2002. pp. 177–181">Beard (2002). pp. 177–181</ref>

In 2000, the Greek government commissioned the construction of a new Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museum history |url=https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/museum-history |access-date=8 January 2023 |website=The Acropolis Museum}}</ref> The museum was, in part, designed to arrange the surviving Parthenon sculptures (including those in the Elgin collection) as they originally stood on the Parthenon itself, and to counter arguments that the Elgin Marbles would be better preserved and displayed in the British Museum.<ref>Beard (2002). pp. 176, 184</ref> The Acropolis Museum displays a portion of the remaining frieze (about 30% has been lost or destroyed), placed in their original orientation and in sight of the Parthenon. The position of the elements held in London are clearly marked with white casts, and space is left where the sculptures no longer survive.<ref name="acrop museum2">{{Cite web |title=The Frieze &#124; Acropolis Museum |url=https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/content/frieze-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206111947/https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/content/frieze-0 |archive-date=6 December 2020 |access-date=19 August 2018 |website=www.theacropolismuseum.gr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |author-link= |url= |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |edition= |place=London |pages=75–76}}</ref>

In 2013, the Greek government asked UNESCO to mediate between the Greek and UK authorities on the return of the marbles, but the UK government and the British Museum declined UNESCO's offer to mediate. In 2021, UNESCO concluded that the UK government had an obligation to return the marbles and called upon the UK government to open negotiations with Greece.<ref name=":202"/>

In late 2022, British and Greek authorities resumed negotiations on the future of the marbles.<ref name=":172"/><ref name=":212"/> Asked about the possible return of the Marbles, the British Culture Secretary, [[Michelle Donelan]] replied: "I can sympathise with some of the arguments but I do think that is a very dangerous and slippy road to embark down",<ref name=":19">{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Anita |date=7 December 2022 |title=Return of Elgin Marbles to Greece would be a 'dangerous and slippery road', warns Culture Secretary |work=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/06/return-elgin-marbles-greece-would-dangerous-slippery-road-warns/ |access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref> expressing the worry that other cultural items now held in Britain might also have to be returned to the places they were acquired from.

In November 2023, Prime Minister [[Rishi Sunak]] cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister [[Kyriakos Mitsotakis]] over public comments Mitsotakis made regarding the marbles.<ref name=EM_1>{{cite news |last=Zakir-Hussain |first=Maryam |title=Elgin Marbles row erupts as Greek PM accuses Sunak of cancelling meeting at 11th hour |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/elgin-marbles-rishi-sunak-kyriakos-mitsotakis-b2454461.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=28 November 2023 |language=en-GB |access-date=29 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zeffman |first1=Henry |last2=Jones |first2=Harrison |last3=Mason |first3=Chris |date=28 November 2023 |title=Greece denies promising not to raise Parthenon Sculptures on UK visit |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67551732 |access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref>

===Rationale for returning to Athens===
Those arguing for the marbles' return cite legal, moral, cultural, conservation and artistic grounds. Their arguments include:

* The marbles were obtained illegally, or at least unethically, and hence should be returned to their rightful owner.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 April 2007 |title=Parthenon Fragments Won't Go Back Home |url=http://www.elginism.com/20070401/702/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615183515/http://www.elginism.com/20070401/702/ |archive-date=15 June 2009 |access-date=20 January 2009 |publisher=Elginism}}</ref>
* While the marbles are of universal cultural value, they are also part of the unique cultural heritage of Greece, and this is the most fitting location for them to be displayed.<ref name="Beard 2002. pp. 177–181"/>
* The Parthenon sculptures around the world should be reunited in order to restore "organic elements" which "at present remain without cohesion, homogeneity and historicity of the monument to which they belong" and allow visitors to better appreciate them as a whole.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Special Issues |url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/a/1/12/ea121.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017204203/http://odysseus.culture.gr/a/1/12/ea121.html |archive-date=17 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="Nicoletta Divari-Valakou 20082">Nicoletta Divari-Valakou, (Director of the Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Athens), "Revisiting the Parthenon: National Heritage in the Age of Globalism" in Mille Gabriel & Jens Dahl, (eds.) Utimut : past heritage&nbsp;– future partnerships, discussions on repatriation in the 21st Century, Copenhagen : International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs and Greenland National Museum & Archives, (2008)</ref><ref name="European Parliament Resolution for the return of the Elgin Marbles2">{{Cite news |title=European Parliament Resolution for the return of the Elgin Marbles |publisher=Greek Ministry of Culture |url=http://odysseus.culture.gr/a/1/12/ga123_3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230217/http://odysseus.culture.gr/a/1/12/ga123_3.html |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>
* Presenting all the extant Parthenon Marbles near their original historical and cultural environment, and in the context of other Greek antiquities, would permit their "fuller understanding and interpretation".<ref name="Nicoletta Divari-Valakou 20082" /><ref name="Who owns the marbles? The debate hits Sydney2">{{Cite news |title=Debate of the Elgin Marbles |publisher=University of Sydney |url=http://sydney.edu.au/senate/documents/History/Elgin_marbles_articles.pdf}}</ref>
* Safekeeping of the marbles would be ensured at the Acropolis Museum, as it is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for the protection and preservation of exhibits.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=Bernard Tschumi Architects |url=http://www.arcspace.com/architects/Tschumi/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928051614/http://www.arcspace.com/architects/Tschumi/ |archive-date=28 September 2007 |work=arcspace.com}}</ref>
* The Elgin Marbles have suffered significant damage from poor conservation and accidents in London and it cannot be assumed they will be better preserved there.<ref>Beard (2002). pp. 166–178</ref>
* Returning the Parthenon sculptures would not set a precedent for other restitution claims because of the distinctively "universal value" of the Parthenon.<ref>Nicoletta Divari-Valakou, (Director of the Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Athens), "Revisiting the Parthenon: National Heritage in the Age of Globalism" in Mille Gabriel & Jens Dahl, (eds.) Utimut : past heritage&nbsp;– future partnerships, discussions on repatriation in the 21st Century, Copenhagen : International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs and Greenland National Museum & Archives, (2008) passim; (see also [http://www.natmus.gl/con2007/pdf/Concluding_summary_Nuuk_2007_revised.pdf Conference summary] {{dead link|date=November 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}})</ref>

===Rationale for remaining in London===
A range of arguments has been presented by scholars, British political leaders and the British Museum for the retention of the Elgin Marbles in London.<ref name="newsweek stones22"/> These include the following:

* Elgin acquired the marbles legally and no court of law would find in favour of a Greek complainant.<ref>Jenkins (2016). p 99</ref><ref>Herman (2023), chapter 3.</ref>
* Elgin rescued the marbles from destruction and those in the British Museum are in better condition than those left behind. The British Museum has a right to retain and publicly display what it preserved from destruction.<ref name="guardian faq2">{{cite news |last=King |first=Dorothy |date=21 July 2004 |title=Elgin Marbles: fact or fiction? |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/jul/21/highereducation.parthenon |access-date=25 June 2009}}</ref>
* Bringing the Parthenon sculptures together as a unified whole is impossible as half had been lost or destroyed by 1800.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parthenon Sculptures, the Trustees' statement |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/parthenon-sculptures/parthenon |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=The British Museum}}</ref>
* The British Museum display allows the marbles to be better viewed in the context of other major ancient cultures and thus complements the perspective provided by the Acropolis Museum collection.<ref name=":233"/>
* Fulfilling all restitution claims would empty most of the world's great museums{{snd}}this has also caused concerns among other European and American museums, with one potential target being the [[Nefertiti Bust]] in Berlin's [[Neues Museum]]; in addition, portions of Parthenon marbles are kept by many other European museums.<ref name="guardian faq2" />
* The British Museum receives about 6 million visitors per year as opposed to 1.5 million visitors to the Acropolis Museum. The removal of the marbles to Greece would significantly reduce the number of people who have the opportunity to visit the marbles.<ref>{{cite news |last=Trend |first=Nick |date=5 June 2018 |title=Why returning the Elgin Marbles would be madness |website=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/why-returning-the-elgin-marbles-would-be-madness/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/why-returning-the-elgin-marbles-would-be-madness/ |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* The Elgin Marbles have been on public display in England since 1807<ref name="Jenkins 2016. p. 102"/> and in that time have become a part of the British cultural heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merryman paper |url=https://law.wustl.edu/harris/Conferences/imperialism/Merryman_PAPER_FINALelgin2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422040718/https://law.wustl.edu/harris/Conferences/imperialism/Merryman_PAPER_FINALelgin2.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2018 |access-date=20 August 2018}}</ref>

=== Public campaigns for return ===
Outside Greece, a campaign for the return of the marbles began in 1981 with the formation of the International Organising Committee – Australia – for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Committee History |url=https://iocarpm.wordpress.com/about-2/committee-history/ |access-date=10 January 2023 |website=International Organising Committee – Australia for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles|date=13 January 2016 }}</ref> and in 1983, with the formation of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who We Are |url=https://www.parthenonuk.com/about-bcrpm/who-we-are |access-date=10 January 2023 |website=The British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles}}</ref> Campaign organisations also exist in Greece and around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bring Them Back |url=http://www.bringthemback.org |access-date=17 April 2010}}</ref>

A number of British and international celebrities, such as comedian [[Stephen Fry]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanderson |first=David |date=30 May 2022 |title=Stephen Fry: Be classy and return the Elgin Marbles |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/art/article/stephen-fry-be-classy-and-return-the-elgin-marbles-mj2zmxgrj |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 May 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |language=en |issn=0140-0460 |quote=He said the return of the statues from Britain "would be an act that uses a word that we haven't been able to use of Britain's acts lately, much: it would be classy".}}</ref> and actors [[Liam Neeson]] and [[George Clooney]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Gareth |date=8 March 2021 |title=George Clooney wades into Parthenon Marbles debate – again |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/03/08/george-clooney-wades-into-parthenon-marbles-debateagain |access-date=10 January 2023 |work=The Art Newspaper}}</ref> have expressed their support for the return of the marbles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herman |first=Alexander |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute: Heritage, Law, Politics |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2023 |isbn=9781509967179 |location=London |pages=4, 78–80 |postscript=. Note: In addition to Fry, Neeson and Clooney, Herman also cites Tom Hanks, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian McKellen, and Joanna Lumley as prominent supporters of the campaign.}}</ref>

===Opinion polls===
An [[Ipsos MORI]] poll of British voters in 1998, found 39% in favour of returning the marbles to Greece and 15% in favour of keeping them in Britain; 45% had no opinion or would not vote if the question were put to a referendum.<ref name="autogenerated12">{{cite web |title=Public and MPs would return the Elgin Marbles! |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126092318/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=2001 |archive-date=26 January 2013 |work=ipsos-mori.com}}</ref> Another Mori poll in 2002 showed similar results.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Return Of The Parthenon Marbles |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=1053 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409021725/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=1053 |archive-date=9 April 2014 |access-date=18 June 2012 |publisher=Ipsos MORI}}</ref> A YouGov poll in 2021 found that 59% of British respondents thought the Parthenon marbles belonged in Greece, 18% that they belonged in Britain, and 18% did not know.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/survey-results/daily/2021/11/23/9b053/2|title=The Parthenon Marbles are a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures that were removed from the Acropolis in Athens from 1801–12 (when Greece was ruled by the Ottoman Empire) and have been on display in the British Museum since 1817. The Greek government has requested their permanent return, but the British Museum has refused. Where do you believe the Parthenon Marbles belong? &#124; Daily Question|website=yougov.co.uk}}</ref>

=== British press ===
''The Guardian'' published an editorial in 2020 reiterating its support for the return of the Parthenon marbles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 February 2020 |title=The Guardian view on the Parthenon marbles: not just a Brexit sideshow |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/23/the-guardian-view-on-the-parthenon-marbles-not-just-a-brexit-sideshow |access-date=8 January 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> In January 2022, ''[[The Times]]'' reversed its long-standing support for retaining the marbles, publishing an editorial calling for their return to Greece.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 January 2022 |title=The Times view on the Elgin Marbles: Uniting Greece's Heritage |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/the-times-view-on-the-elgin-marbles-uniting-greeces-heritage-spdz5vz6k |access-date=8 January 2023 |work=The Times}}</ref> ''The Daily Telegraph'' published an editorial in January 2023 arguing that any decision on the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece should be made by the UK parliament.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 January 2023 |title=The fate of the Elgin marbles can't be George Osborne's choice |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2023/01/06/fate-elgin-marbles-cant-george-osbornes-choice/ |access-date=8 January 2023 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

===British Museum Act 1963===
The [[British Museum Act 1963]]<ref>{{cite web |title=British Museum Act 1963, as amended |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/24/contents |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forbids the British Museum from disposing of its holdings, except in a small number of special circumstances. Any change to the Act would have to be passed by Parliament.

==Loans and copies==
The British Museum has made plaster casts of the marbles and distributed them to many museums around the world.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" /> In 2022, The Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA) in Oxford asked the British Museum to scan its marbles from the Parthenon in order to make robot-carved marble replicas. The museum, however, declined the request and the Greek government declined to comment on the project.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=8 July 2022 |title=The Robot Guerrilla Campaign to Recreate the Elgin Marbles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/science/elgin-marbles-3d-print.html/ |access-date=19 August 2023 |work=New York Times}}</ref>

The British Museum lent the figure of a river-god, possibly the river [[Ilisus]], to the [[Hermitage Museum]] in Saint Petersburg to celebrate its 250th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/12/05/loan-of-a-parthenon-sculpture-to-the-hermitage-a-marble-ambassador-of-a-european-ideal/ |title=Loan to the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg |publisher=britishmuseum.org |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231192906/http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/12/05/loan-of-a-parthenon-sculpture-to-the-hermitage-a-marble-ambassador-of-a-european-ideal/ |archive-date=31 December 2014}}</ref> It was on display there from 6 December 2014 until 18 January 2015. This was the first time the British Museum had lent part of its Parthenon Marbles collection and it caused some controversy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/world/europe/elgin-marbles-lent-to-hermitage-museum.html?_r=0 
|title=Greek Statue Travels Again, but Not to Greece |newspaper=www.nytimes.com |date=5 December 2014 |access-date=8 December 2014|last1=Erlanger |first1=Steven }}</ref> The British Museum states that it is open to lending its marbles from the Parthenon to Greece but the Greek government does not wish to agree to the standard clause acknowledging the British Museum's ownership of any loan items.<ref name=":9" />

==See also==
*[[Pedimental sculpture]]
*[[Palermo Fragment]]
*[[Greece–United Kingdom relations]]
*[[Las Incantadas]], portico taken from [[Thessaloniki]]
*[[Caryatids of Eleusis|Saint Demetra]], sculpture taken from [[Eleusis]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |author-link=Mary Beard (classicist) |first=Mary |last=Beard |title=The Parthenon |publisher=[[Profile Books]] |edition=2nd |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84668-349-7}}
* {{cite book |first=Alexander |last=Herman |title=The Parthenon Marbles Dispute |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |place=London|edition= |year=2023 |isbn=978-1509967179 |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parthenon-marbles-dispute-9781509967179/}}
* {{Cite book |first=Tiffany |last=Jenkins |author-link=Tiffany Jenkins |title=Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums{{nbsp}}... and Why They Should Stay There |place=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-965759-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/keepingtheirmarb0000jenk}}
* {{cite book |first=William |last=St Clair |author-link=William St Clair |title=Lord Elgin and the Marbles |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=Oxford |edition=4th |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-288053-5}}
* {{cite book |author-link= |first=Catharine |last=Titi |title=The Parthenon Marbles and International Law |publisher=[[Springer Publishing|Springer]] |edition= |year=2023 |isbn=978-3-031-26356-9}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Dyfri |title=Lord Elgin's firman |journal=Journal of the History of Collections |date=7 January 2009 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=49–76 |doi=10.1093/jhc/fhn033}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite magazine |first=Marc |last=Fehlmann |url=http://www.apollo-magazine.com/june-2007/63335/casts-and-connoisseurs.thtml |title=Casts and Connoisseurs: the early reception of the Elgin Marbles |magazine=[[Apollo (magazine)|Apollo]] |date=June 2007 |pages=44–51 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506011222/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/june-2007/63335/casts-and-connoisseurs.thtml |archive-date=6 May 2012}}
* {{cite book |first=Jeanette |last=Greenfield |title=The Return of Cultural Treasures |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |place=Cambridge |edition=3rd |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-80216-1}}
* {{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Hitchens |author-link=Christopher Hitchens |title=Imperial Spoils: The Curious Case of the Elgin Marbles |publisher=[[Chatto & Windus]] |place=London |isbn=978-0-8090-4189-3 |year=1987 |title-link=Imperial Spoils: The Curious Case of the Elgin Marbles}} (with essays by Robert Browning and Graham Binns) 
* {{cite book |first=Ian |last=Jenkins |title=The Parthenon Frieze |publisher=[[British Museum Press]] |location=London |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7141-2200-7}}
* {{cite book |last=King |first=Dorothy |author-link=Dorothy King |title=The Elgin Marbles |publisher=[[Hutchinson Heinemann]] |place=London |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-09-180013-0 |title-link=The Elgin Marbles (book)}}
* {{cite book |first=François |last=Queyrel |title=Le Parthénon, Un monument dans l'Histoire |publisher=Éditions Bartillat |location=Paris |year=2008 |isbn=978-2-84100-435-5 |url=http://www.editions-bartillat.fr/fiche-livre.asp?Clef=281 |access-date=24 May 2017 |archive-date=29 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929162206/http://www.editions-bartillat.fr/fiche-livre.asp?Clef=281 |url-status=dead }}

==External links==
{{Commons}}{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Elgin Marbles |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle=}}
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*[http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/?pname=Home&la=2 Acropolis Museum]
*[http://www.parthenonfrieze.gr/ The Parthenon Frieze]
*[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/ancient_greece_and_rome/rooms_18,_18a,_18b_parthenon.aspx The British Museum Parthenon pages]

===Pros and cons of restitution===
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*[http://www.parthenonuk.com/ British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles' site]
*[https://parthenonproject.co.uk/#overview The Parthenon Project]
*[https://classicsforall.org.uk/reading-room/ad-familiares/case-lord-elgin "The Case for Lord Elgin," Classics for All]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040814225306/http://prometheus.cc.emory.edu/panels/5E/G.Wood.html Gillen Wood, "The strange case of Lord Elgin's nose"]: the cultural context of the early 19th century debate over the marbles, the politics & the aesthetics, imperialism and hellenism
*[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmcumeds/371/371ap20.htm Two memorandums submitted to the UK Parliamentary Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport in 2000.]
*[https://aothenmagazine.com/#torrettamarbles "Keeping our share", Aothen Magazine]: Argues for the dismissal of the Greek claim, and for retaining the Marbles as part of cultural history.

{{Phidias}}
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{{Acropolis of Athens}}
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[[Category:Elgin Marbles| ]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Greek sculptures]]
[[Category:Parthenon]]
[[Category:Art and cultural repatriation]]
[[Category:Greece–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures in the British Museum]]
[[Category:History of museums]]
[[Category:History of Athens]]
[[Category:Marble sculptures in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sculptures by Phidias]]
[[Category:Greek artifacts outside Greece]]
[[Category:19th century in Athens]]
[[Category:Horses in art]]
[[Category:Architectural sculpture]]
[[Category:Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]]
[[Category:Sculptures of Dionysus]]