What is the story behind the Elgin Marbles?
Known as the Parthenon Sculptures, they are also called the Elgin Marbles, after the Scottish nobleman Lord Elgin, who stripped them from the ancient Acropolis in Athens in 1801 and sold them to the British government in 1816.
What is the debate over the Elgin Marbles?
The removal of the Elgin Marbles highlights debates about the ownership of cultural artifacts and the return of antiquities to their places of origin, with the British Museum accused of exhibiting “pilfered cultural property”.
Why should the Elgin Marbles be returned to Greece?
Perhaps the most impassioned argument for the return of the Parthenon sculptures is that the pieces represent a vital and central part of Greek cultural heritage. That they are the most prominent and symbolic link that modern Athens and modern Athenians have with the greatness of their ancient ancestors.
Did Lord Elgin have permission to take the marbles?
According to the British Museum, Elgin was granted a firman (letter of instruction) granting him permission to take away the pieces… “as a personal gesture after he encouraged the British forces in their fight to drive the French out of Egypt, which was then an Ottoman possession”.
Did the British steal the Elgin Marbles?
In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some, while some others, such as Lord Byron, likened the Earl’s actions to vandalism or looting. Following a public debate in Parliament and its subsequent exoneration of Elgin, he sold the Marbles to the British government in 1816.
Why won’t the British Museum return the Elgin marbles?
The British government’s official position is that it is not responsible for the marbles’ fate: That, it says, is a matter for the British Museum’s trustees, a group largely appointed by the prime minister that has repeatedly said the sculptures are integral to the museum’s mission of telling world history.
What would have happened to the Elgin marbles?
It would be impossible to reunite the marbles as a complete set on the Parthenon due to corrosion from Athenian smog and because about half of them were destroyed in an explosion in 1687. The Greek plan is to transfer them to the Acropolis Museum instead.
Who bombed the Parthenon?
Indeed, few cultural monuments demonstrate this more perfectly than the Athenian Parthenon, which was unceremoniously bombed in 1687 by a Venetian-led army of mercenaries hired by Poland, Venice, and the Vatican—the very Europeans whose culture it is meant to embody—to push the Ottoman Turks out of Europe.
Why won’t the British return the Elgin marbles?
Maintenance work at the British Museum and the pandemic have prevented the Parthenon marbles from being publicly viewed for almost a year. The Acropolis Museum, which was purpose-built to house the classical carvings at the foot of the monument in Athens, reopened in May.
Who stole the Elgin marbles?
Greece has disputed the British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures, maintaining that Lord Elgin removed them illegally while the country was under Turkish occupation as part of the Ottoman Empire. Lord Elgin was ambassador to the Ottoman court of the Sultan in Istanbul in the early 19th century.
¿Qué es el Museo Británico?
/ 51.519444444444, -0.12694444444444 El Museo Británico (en inglés: The British Museum) es un museo de la ciudad de Londres, Reino Unido, uno de los museos más importantes y visitados del mundo. Sus colecciones abarcan campos diversos del saber humano, como la historia, la arqueología, la etnografía y el arte.
¿Cuáles son los mejores museos de la capital británica?
La capital británica acoge un buen número de exhibiciones, galerías y pinacotecas de primer orden que convierten a la ciudad en uno de los centros mundiales de la cultura. De entre ellos destacan la National Gallery, la Tate Modern, el Museo de Victoria y Alberto, y especialmente el Museo Británico.
¿Cuánto cuesta la entrada al Museo Británico?
Como pasa en muchos de los museos de Londres, la entrada del Museo Británico es gratuita, si bien podemos hacer una donación para contribuir a las labores de conservación y mantenimiento del lugar. Así, podremos acceder a la colección principal y a algunas de las muestras temporales, aunque las grandes exposiciones temporales sí cuestan dinero.
¿Cuáles son los fondos del Museo?
Actualmente, los fondos del museo albergan aproximadamente 7 millones de objetos de los cuales se exponen alrededor 50.000, mientras que el resto están guardados por falta de espacio o en procesos de estudio o conservación. Destacan piezas como la Piedra Rosetta o los Mármoles del Partenón.