One of the hottest issues in the art world today is
repatriation, returning looted objects to their native lands. The
problem is when, or if, repatriation should occur. The Parthenon
marbles are one of the most controversial cases.
The Parthenon marbles consist, in part, of a continuous frieze or band of decoration that once adorned the top of the Parthenon, Greece's most famous fifth century BC temple (detail above). About 200 years ago, these marbles were purchased by Lord Elgin, a British ambassador to Greece, when Greece was under Turkish rule. The Turks conquer Greece in the 15th century and rule Greece for almost 400 years. However, in the 19th century, the Greeks rebel against their Turkish overlords and take back their country. Soon after gaining their independence, the Greeks ask the British to return their marbles.
For the 2004 Olympic games, the Greeks began to build a 100-million-dollar museum to house the marbles. They ask the Brits to give them back. "No," says the British Museum, which now displays these marbles to around six million visitors each year, claiming they have protected these works of art from destruction caused by extreme air pollution in Greece and that they bought them fair and square. "Loan them to us for the Olympic games, then," the Greeks reply. A chilly "We do not think so!" was the essential response from the British Museum, whose keepers doubted they would ever see the marbles again. The debate now is whether or not world opinion will force the British to return these treasures, which literally fill an entire room of the British Museum in London. The main fear, really, is that returning these marbles would open the door for the return of other objects: The Egyptians are already asking for the Rosetta Stone back from the British Museum, America just returned a mummy to the Egyptians in 2003, and many Native American groups are demanding (and getting) the return of objects looted from their original burial sites. Museums around the world are afraid repatriation will empty their collections. Many Native American objects right here in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology may soon be returned, in fact.
The questions remain: When should objects be returned to their country of origin? Who should decide? And, of course, should the Parthenon marbles stay in London or go back to Greece?
The Parthenon marbles consist, in part, of a continuous frieze or band of decoration that once adorned the top of the Parthenon, Greece's most famous fifth century BC temple (detail above). About 200 years ago, these marbles were purchased by Lord Elgin, a British ambassador to Greece, when Greece was under Turkish rule. The Turks conquer Greece in the 15th century and rule Greece for almost 400 years. However, in the 19th century, the Greeks rebel against their Turkish overlords and take back their country. Soon after gaining their independence, the Greeks ask the British to return their marbles.
For the 2004 Olympic games, the Greeks began to build a 100-million-dollar museum to house the marbles. They ask the Brits to give them back. "No," says the British Museum, which now displays these marbles to around six million visitors each year, claiming they have protected these works of art from destruction caused by extreme air pollution in Greece and that they bought them fair and square. "Loan them to us for the Olympic games, then," the Greeks reply. A chilly "We do not think so!" was the essential response from the British Museum, whose keepers doubted they would ever see the marbles again. The debate now is whether or not world opinion will force the British to return these treasures, which literally fill an entire room of the British Museum in London. The main fear, really, is that returning these marbles would open the door for the return of other objects: The Egyptians are already asking for the Rosetta Stone back from the British Museum, America just returned a mummy to the Egyptians in 2003, and many Native American groups are demanding (and getting) the return of objects looted from their original burial sites. Museums around the world are afraid repatriation will empty their collections. Many Native American objects right here in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology may soon be returned, in fact.
The questions remain: When should objects be returned to their country of origin? Who should decide? And, of course, should the Parthenon marbles stay in London or go back to Greece?