British Museum holds ancient Greek images Abroad

British and Greek media reported that the “Parthenon Marbels” or the “Elgin Marbles” have turned up in a draft EU document intended for trade negotiations with London. The future trade agreement would also provide that “illegally removed cultural objects are returned to the country of origin.” According to an EU diplomat, the phrase came at the insistence of Greece and with the support of Italy in the draft text.

The “marbles” were shipped to London by the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, the count of Elgin, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. When Lord Elgin needed money, he sold it to the British government. The parliament then specifically determined that it was state property. The fragments of sculptures and a woman’s statue that served as a pillar in an Athenian temple went to the British Museum in 1816. Greece became officially independent in 1832 and has since been unsuccessfully trying to get the sculptures back.

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