When Lord Elgin, a British
aristocrat, sailed home from Greece in the early 1800s, he also shipped to
England some of the greatest treasures of antiquity: a collection that included
statues of Greek gods and carved frieze panels depicting battling centaurs that
once decorated the Parthenon in Athens.
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Torn in some cases from the temple walls,
ostensibly with the permission of the Ottomans who then ruled Greece, the
so-called Elgin marbles were later sold to the British government and became
some of the most storied artifacts in the collection of the British Museum.
But they also became, almost from the very
day they were removed, the subject of perhaps the world’s most notorious
cultural dispute.
Since the days of Lord Byron, the romantic
poet who was an early critic of their removal, the fate of the marbles has been
bitterly contested. The British say the marbles were
legally acquired and are
best shown alongside other artifacts in a universal museum, while the Greeks
view them as looted treasures that are a foundation of their national heritage.
The debate has only deepened in recent
years as the actions of old empires have come under new scrutiny, and
restitution battles have come to challenge the foundations of Western museums.
The pressure to return the marbles has grown as museums have given back
high-profile items including Benin Bronzes, Italian antiquities and other
fragments from the Parthenon that were relinquished just last month by the
Vatican.
Hope on the horizon, or a distant deal?Now there are hopeful signals that perhaps
a resolution between the British Museum and Greece could be in sight as
officials on both sides have acknowledged that secret talks have taken place.
But even as those disclosures have flowered into optimism that
real progress will soon be made, both sides have made it clear that no deal is yet imminent.
Under British law, the museum cannot remove items from its collection unless they are “unfit to be retained”, though it is free to loan objects to other institutions.
Indeed, they remain far apart on some key
questions.
The talks have been ongoing in London since
November 2021, between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and George
Osborne, a former finance minister of Britain who is now the chair of the
British Museum. In the seclusion of plush hotels and at the Greek ambassador’s
town house, the parties have been trying to reach a deal on the marbles’
future, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations who were
granted anonymity to discuss confidential talks. One of those people had
knowledge of the Greek position; the other knew the British Museum’s.
At several of those meetings, Giorgos
Gerapetritis, a minister without portfolio in Greece’s government, acted as
Mitsotakis’ representative, according to both people.
Just how well the negotiations have gone
has been a matter of much speculation. One article last month in the
Greek newspaper Ta Nea, which broke news of the talks, said they were “90 percent”
complete, citing “well-placed” Greek sources. Bloomberg reported this month
that the parties were “closing in” on a deal, and other optimistic accounts
have followed elsewhere. Under the discussed proposal, the Bloomberg article
said, some of the monuments would return to Athens temporarily, in exchange for
other ancient treasures.
But a deal remains much further away than
those reports suggest, according to the two people with knowledge of the
negotiations who spoke to the New York Times. And, in fact, in recent days
officials from both sides have spoken publicly to pump the brakes on the
soaring expectations that any deal was imminent.
The Greek sideFor his part, Mitsotakis has asked the
British Museum to return all of the frieze in its collection, some 76m of
carved stone that once wrapped around the Parthenon, the person with knowledge
of the Greek position said. Mitsotakis wanted an agreement that those panels
would stay in Greece for at least 20 years, the person added. There, they
would be reunited with other parts of the frieze already on display in the Acropolis
Museum in Athens.
That person said Mitsotakis hoped that,
after 20 years, the agreement would be extended so the frieze panels would
remain in Athens.
“The whole question of the Elgin marbles is such a long and complex story” that any solution “would be a major step for the institutions, and for the cultural dialogue in the world.”
The Greek side hoped to negotiate the
return of the remaining sculptures at a later date, the person with
knowledge of its position added. In return for the frieze, Greek museums would supply the
British Museum with a rotating selection of priceless artifacts, some of which
had never left Greece, the person added.
The British sideThe
British Museum wants a different deal,
according to the person with knowledge of its position. So far, Osborne has
suggested returning a smaller portion of the frieze, as well as carvings of
gods and centaurs, as a short-term loan, the person said. The museum could
offer up to one-third of the Parthenon artifacts in its collection, the person
added.
Once Greece returned those artifacts to
London, more would be sent to Athens to replace them, the person said. Over
time, the number of artifacts sent to Greece would increase, to reflect growing
trust between the two sides, the person added.
The British Museum’s view is that it cannot
offer more, even if it wanted to, the person with knowledge of its position
said. Under British law, the museum cannot remove items from its collection
unless they are “unfit to be retained”, though it is free to loan objects to
other institutions. The museum argues that Lord Elgin acquired the artifacts
legally, after administrators of the Ottoman Empire, which governed Athens at
the time, gave him a permit. It also insists that the sculptures are best
presented among the museum’s global collections, so that they tell part of a
broader story about human civilization.
If any agreement with the
Greek government did not include a provision that the marbles must return to London, it could be
challenged in Britain’s courts. But any deal would be written in a way that did
not require Greece to give up its claim for ownership of the artifacts, the
person with knowledge of the museum’s position said.
The British Museum declined to comment on
the negotiations, but a museum spokesperson acknowledged by email that they
were taking place. “We’re actively seeking a new Parthenon partnership with our
friends in Greece, and, as we enter a new year, constructive discussions are
ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
The bigger pictureOther major Western collections, including
the Smithsonian Institution and the Humboldt Forum, in Berlin, have recently
returned high-profile disputed artworks, and the British Museum looks
increasingly out of step. As well as the Parthenon artifacts, it holds an
extensive collection of Benin Bronzes, claimed by Nigeria; the Rosetta Stone,
which some archaeologists want returned to Egypt; and a statue from Easter
Island that the Rapa Nui, the island’s Indigenous people, have asked for.
Legal experts and museum administrators
worldwide are watching the situation closely.
“It’s like the Crown Jewels… If someone took those, you’d want them back, wouldn’t you?”
“If there was some kind of deal, it would
be a great symbol for others seeking restitution claims,” said Alexander Herman,
the director of the Institute of Art and Law, in London.
Max Hollein, the director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, said by phone that “the whole question
of the Elgin marbles is such a long and complex story” that any solution “would
be a major step for the institutions, and for the cultural dialogue in the
world.”
The Met recently reached a deal with Greece
so that the New York museum could display a collection of Cycladic antiquities
assembled by philanthropist Leonard N. Stern while acknowledging that,
ultimately, the artifacts belong to the Greek state. Under the deal, artifacts
will travel between the US and Greece. Hollein said Greece’s government was
open to negotiating innovative solutions to restore ownership of the country’s
cultural heritage, while allowing items to be displayed abroad.
At the British Museum recently, the gallery
where the marbles are displayed was filled with tourists, many snapping selfies
in front of the statues and the frieze.
Dilan Polat, 20, an art student who was
sketching a centaur’s muscled torso from one of the panels, said she felt
“really lucky to be able to draw actual Greek sculptures.” But, she added, they
should return “to their rightful place” in Greece. John Lancaster, 59, a bus driver,
said the marbles should return to Greece since they were part of that country’s
history. “It’s like the Crown Jewels,” Lancaster added. “If someone took those,
you’d want them back, wouldn’t you?”
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