The exact proprietor of the Elgin Marbles has been disputed for many years between the British Museum and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Greece. The British Museum intends to keep the Elgin Marbles in London and on display in the Duveen galleries. The Greek Ministry of Culture is trying to acquire the Elgin Marbles, who claims Greece is the correct residence of the marbles, to be placed in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens. My stance in this dispute is for the Eglin Marbles to be returned to Greece
the Parthenon Marbles The controversy began almost one hundred years ago. Between 1801 and 1812, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed several sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens and shipped them to England, where he sold them to the British Museum in 1816. 167 years later, Melina Mercouri, Greek Minister of Culture, requested that the “Elgin” Marbles be returned. This request sparked one of the greatest debates the art world has ever known
an detailed overview of events such as the circumstances about how Lord Elgin was able to gain permission to transport the Parthenon marbles, the documentation is either bias or flawed. An example is how Lord Elgin has been viewed when he “liberated” the Parthenon marbles off the walls to be taken to his estate through the use of blackmail. The previous statement was a common opinion of British and Greeks citizens who saw Elgin as a thief who only wanted the marbles to put on display in his home. Alternatively
Without the combined use of perception, emotion, logic, and language, my ability to pursue knowledge and gain an understanding of the world around me is limited. For me, measuring the success of the pursuit of knowledge is based on the fact that I am able to comprehend knowledge from multiple viewpoints, and not be restricted to a certain way of thinking. In Maslow’s quote, being only restricted to one tool, or way of knowing, is an issue for me to pursue knowledge because of the restrictions and
1800's, there came Lord Elgin, who was a huge fanatic of Greek history. Because Greece was currently under conquest by the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin made the Ottoman Empire a deal and bought the remains of the Parthenon Frieze artwork along with other sculptures as well. Elgin sent these unique sculptures of art work back to his country, England. Since then these sculptures became known as the "Elgin Marbles", and currently sit in the British Museum at London (“What are the 'Elgin Marbles”, par 1). However
The Elgin Marbles are a collection of Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions and architectural pieces that were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon in Athens. Lord Elgin (British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire) had agents remove about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon. The Elgin Marbles, also referred to as the Parthenon Marbles, were transported to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the marbles was supported by some, while others (including the poet, Lord Byron)
Dyfri Williams, Research Keeper of Greek and Roman antiquities at the British Museum, several members of the audience stood up on behalf of Greece and expressed their outrage at the British Museum’s refusal to return the Parthenon Sculptures, or the Elgin Marbles, to the city of Athens. Dr. Williams answered their scathing interjections with a well-rehearsed summary of the issues key points and complexities of the issue, and it was clear he encountered such protests regularly. By now, even the casual
In a political sense, the British have a powerful claim to the Parthenon marbles as they are the legal owners of the artefacts. This is due to Lord Elgin selling the Marbles to the British government when he was in bankruptcy. Since the British got ownership of the relics from Elgin instead of taking the Marbles out of the Parthenon, they have complete possession of the sculptures. But the Marbles were not even illegally taken from Greece, as a document was written that allowed Elgin’s men to take
1. The Naxos Sphinx – Crafted between 570-560 B.C. The Naxos Sphinx, depicted to the left, has the head of a woman, the wings of a griffin, and the body of a lion. Standing just over 7 feet high, the sculpture appears to be much larger; this is mainly due to its placement a top of a 10 meters tall Ionic column. Discovered in a series of broken pieces back in 1861, this marble structure is regarded as both impressive and quite detailed. In ancient Greek times sphinxes were most commonly placed on
The Parthenon Introduction One of the most famous structures from Ancient Greece is the Parthenon. A temple built for the guardian goddess of the city, Athena. Figure 1 is a picture of the Parthenon. I have Chosen the Parthenon because I think it is one of the best examples of a classical building. In my work I will review the architecture. To do this I will use different works from different authors and sources. After which I will present my ideas and thoughts. The Parthenon, a temple for Athena