About the Parthenon Sculptures

The excerpts are not from the original but translated into English from Greek.

Excerpt from the book: In the Land of the Moon: British Women Travelers in Greece (1718–1932) – Estia Bookstor

Mary Nisbet, later Lady Elgin, [...] accompanied her husband (Thomas Bruce, or Lord Elgin) to the East when he served as a diplomat and British ambassador to Constantinople. During her stay in the East, she wrote regularly to her parents, initially complaining about the money Elgin spent to acquire antiquities. However, after observing her parents' interest in the artifacts during their visit to Athens, she came to share her husband’s enthusiasm and assisted him in expanding his collection.

Elgin secured the Sultan’s permission to sketch and make copies of the Parthenon sculptures, and thus the couple, along with their children, traveled to Athens. There, they met a team of artists led by the Italian Giovanni Battista Lusieri. Once Elgin managed to obtain authorization to take some broken sculptures or inscriptions, he seized the opportunity to strip the temple of its treasures and packed the sculptures into 200 crates bound for England. Many sculptures were lost along the way; Elgin even incurred substantial debts by chartering a ship to transport the antiquities, which later sank, and further costs in efforts to recover them. [...]

[Packing the Sculptures]

[…]

During Lord Elgin's absence, Lady Elgin sent him the following reports regarding the marbles:

I sent a very polite message to Captain Howes, expressing how sorry I was to hear he was so ill and that if there was anything I could send him, I would be delighted to do so. Then, I sweet-talked the lieutenant to persuade the captain to take along the three large crates you saw in the ammunition warehouse. I told him they were seven feet long, but he didn’t give me much hope, as it was impossible to fit anything over three feet long into the hold. I then deemed it necessary to use my powers of persuasion and began by saying that since the captain was heading straight to Malta and there were no enemies along the way, I would take the liberty of proposing he take the crates. It would be a great favor to me, as you were extremely eager to have them removed from the country, and I would be very proud if I could report how well I had managed things during your absence.

As usual, feminine eloquence succeeded. The captain sent me a polite response, and at dawn, I sent the three crates to the port.

There is no more accommodating man than this captain. He saw the three crates on the shore when he boarded the ship. Once I had safely secured them, I set to work to see if I could arrange for anything else. What do you say about your Dodd? [Editor’s note: This was Lord Elgin’s nickname for his wife.]

Today is a holiday; no one wanted to work, but I offered them a tip. Lusieri is completely baffled by me, saying he’s never seen anyone as clever as I am. I got him to get to work and pack the horse’s head, the hydria, and the stone that is in this house—a head—and the captain will take those as well for me. He says he will stay until tomorrow if it helps.

[…]

11 PM. And now for some news that will please you. I managed to have another large crate packed today: a big piece of the relief from the Temple of Athena—I forget the precise term. So, with my arrangements, I’ve loaded four very long and heavy packages onto the ship, and tomorrow the horse’s head, etc., will be carefully packed and sent to the vessel. That’s all that is ready to leave. Even if there were twenty ships here, I couldn’t send anything else for a while—the last two crates are entirely my accomplishment, and I feel proud, Elgin!..."

Tuesday, May 25, 1802

Know that, in addition to the five crates I’ve already mentioned to you, I managed to convince Captain Howes to take three more. Two are already on the ship, and the third will be taken when he returns from Corinth. How much effort it took to accomplish all this—do you love me more now, Elgin?

Please show your gratitude (put aside your diplomatic demeanor) to Captain Howes, who took so many items onto his ship. I am now quite satisfied with the thought I’ve always had—that women can accomplish so much more than men if they set their minds to it. I’d bet anything that if you had been here, you wouldn’t have managed to load even half of what I’ve sent to the ship.

As for the other items you wanted to bring down from the Acropolis, that is entirely impossible until you return. Lusieri says that Captain Lacy, when he first arrived here, was opposed to bringing things down. However, in the end, he proved to be smarter than anyone else and insisted that you should absolutely take the entire temple of the Cary-something [editor’s note: she means Caryatids], where the women’s statues are located.

The shipwreck

From: Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες

It was on September 16, 1802, when the brig Mentor departed from Piraeus heading towards Malta, with England as its final destination. Around 6 PM, it encountered a storm off Cape Tainaron, causing the ship to be driven about 40 nautical miles south. At 2 AM the following morning, the sailors dropped anchor in Avlemona Bay on the island of Kythera, but to no avail. The anchors failed to hold, and as a result, the ship struck the rocks and eventually sank. Along with it sank its precious cargo, which included sections of the Parthenon frieze, sculptural parts from the Temple of Athena Nike, and other sculptures and items that had been removed from the Acropolis monuments in 1802 under the orders of Lord Elgin.

Immediately after the sinking of the Mentor, Elgin’s men searched for and found sponge divers to recover the 17 crates it had been carrying. Divers from Kalymnos managed to raise five crates the same year, 11 more in 1803, and the remaining crates the following summer.

According to the Greek Ministry of Culture:

Of the 97 surviving Parthenon frieze stones, 56 are in London and 40 are in Athens. Of the 64 surviving metopes, 48 are in Athens and 15 in London. Of the 28 surviving figures from the pediments, 19 are in London and 9 in Athens.

The Return of the Marbles and UNESCO

From: Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες

As part of the 24th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin (ICPRCP), [...], the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles was discussed, a topic that has remained firmly on the agenda for 40 years.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture, the Greek delegation presented a detailed and substantiated history of the case and Greece's position on the issue of the Parthenon Marbles.

The United Kingdom, in its statement, reiterated its longstanding position on the matter, emphasizing that the current legal framework does not allow for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, and stressing that there is no intention by the government to change the relevant law.

Progress Regarding the Return of the Parthenon Marbles

From: Documento

An article from the British The Economist and a statement by the UK Minister of Culture indicate that the conditions for the return of the Parthenon Marbles are beginning to mature, given the change in political leadership in the UK. [...]

On the other hand, the UK Minister of Culture, Lisa Nandy, also gave a green light at the Labour Party conference in September, where she stated that the repatriation of cultural objects is on the government’s agenda. [...]

However, in the UK, the removal of artworks from collections – especially those acquired during the colonial past – is not permitted by law.

Thus, it seems that a middle ground solution is being favored, involving an open line for periodic exhibitions of other objects. In simple terms, a loan system with counterbalances...

Photograph of the article: Kalimeri Konstantina, 2024. The New Acropolis Museum. The photograph has been edited using artificial intelligence to remove the people that were present.