Rumblings from the British Museum may mean that the Parthenon Marbles will be going back to Greece.
News has broken that the British Museum might just be preparing to give the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece.
George Osborne is understood to have made an official agreement with the Greek Government to return the treasures as part of a ‘cultural exchange’, though this hasn’t been officially confirmed by the museum.
Apparently the agreement is part of a contract that would start to see the return of the marbles.
A Cultural Exchange
It’s unclear and unconfirmed if being part of a cultural exchange would mean that Greek museums would be sending artefacts to London in place of the marbles. It’s also only a select few pieces that would be returned.
Current British legislation makes it difficult for items part of museum collections to be returned to their home countries, a rule that has been a thorn in the side of Greece’s attempts to get the marbles back to Athens.
When Were the Marbles Taken?
The 2,500 year old marbles were originally taken from the Parthenon in the 19th century by Lord Elgin (which is why they’re often called the Elgin Marbles). He was stationed in the region as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Fast forward a few hundred years and it’s becoming increasingly hard for museums to justify holding on to artefacts stolen from countries in the age of colonialism.
Increasing pressure has found itself mounting on the British Museum to return artefacts like the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes after the Horniman museum broke rank in late 2022 and signed a deal to return important cultural artefacts to Nigeria that were stolen by British soldiers in the 1800’s.
Taken during colonialism, and a bone of contention for generations – it looks like the Parthenon Marbles may finally be going home
The Parthenon Marbles: Practical Information
You can see the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum (hopefully not for much longer).
Address: The British Museum, Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG
Opening times: Every day 10am – 5pm, and until 8:30pm on Fridays
Price: Free
