Elgin Marbles not on agenda as UK and Greek PMs meet, No 10 says
Returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece is not on the agenda for Sir Keir Starmer as he meets his Greek counterpart, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister will welcome Kyriakos Mitsotakis to No 10 on Tuesday morning, the Greek leader’s first official visit to the UK since a quarrel with the previous government over the ancient marbles, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures.
Greece has long maintained that the Elgin Marbles were illegally removed from their place high atop Athens’ acropolis during a period of foreign occupation.
The Government and the British Museum reject this characterisation.
Focus
Ahead of the meeting between the two premiers, Sir Keir’s official spokesman suggested conversation would not touch upon the marbles.
“It’s not going to be on the Prime Minister’s agenda. His focus will be on support for Ukraine, the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza,” the spokesman said.
He added: “Our position on the Elgin Marbles has not changed.
“It remains a matter for the British Museum, and the Government has no plans to change the law to permit a permanent move of the Parthenon Sculptures.”
Negotiations
The Guardian newspaper has reported ongoing talks about the future of the statues are now “well advanced”, citing sources close to the negotiations between the museum and the Greek Foreign Ministry.
A cultural partnership would be likely to be at the heart of a deal, The Guardian said, which could see the sculptures returned to Athens in exchange for exhibitions of famous artworks.
The marble statues came from friezes on the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple and have been displayed at the British Museum for more than 200 years.
They were removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, when he was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Some of the remaining temple statues are on display in the purpose-built Acropolis Museum in Athens, and Greece has long called for the collections to be reunited.
Row
A diplomatic row between Greece and the UK was sparked under the previous government when then-prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with Mr Mitsotakis, who had made a push for the sculptures’ return.
Mr Sunak denied having thrown a “hissy fit” over the matter and accused his counterpart of grandstanding.
Mr Mitsotakis had compared splitting the Elgin Marbles from those still in Athens to cutting the Mona Lisa in half.
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3d scan them, reproduce them, hand them back. Must be years of work to do this with this and other artefacts, they are impressive but disjointed and I remember looking at them and thinking this is more of a thieves gallery.
An irony of Lord Elgin’s deal with the Ottoman authorities back in the early 19th century which authorized him to break off some of the marbles and bring them to the UK – and it was one which hadn’t remotely occurred to me until I heard an expert talking about it on the radio – is that his act of vandalism also actually served to preserve them in better condition than they would now be if they’d remained in situ. The reason? Simply that he removed them back in the 1820s, before the industrial revolution hit Athens. In the intervening… Read more »
Yeah, tricky and ironic. I knew the story and aware of the pollution issue before my last visit some years ago but that didn’t sit right as an excuse, or at least one we can continue to use. There are many more treasures in that museum alone, Benin Bronzes and so on (not sure what is happening there as my last visit was around 7 years ago) and then many culturally important artefacts have already been returned. But technology to step into the breach here and share. I know this already happens, but set up intent as a way forward.… Read more »
I seem to remember hearing a few months back that the Benin bronzes have been returned, or at least are going to be. But it’s rather a vague recollection, and it might be an extended loan rather than a permanent repatriation.
How about calling them the Parthenon marbles for a start, given that we understand how important ownership of names is to a culture?
Give them back.