For the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures See also: What was stolen | US Congress Resolution | Boris Johnson’s statement | George Clooney’s call
Pressure from UNESCO intensifies on British Museum for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures.
The issue of the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures was one of the main items on the agenda of the
22nd Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP).
The Committee’s responsibilities, among others include “seeking ways and means of facilitating bilateral negotiations for the restitution or return of cultural property to its countries of origin. In this connection, the Committee may also submit proposals with a view to mediation or conciliation to the Member States concerned”
UNESCO: “The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world. In the second half of the fifth century bc, Athens, following the victory against the Persians and the establishment of democracy, took a leading position amongst the other city-states of the ancient world. In the age that followed, as thought and art flourished, an exceptional group of artists put into effect the ambitious plans of Athenian statesman Pericles and, under the inspired guidance of the sculptor Pheidias, transformed the rocky hill into a unique monument of thought and the arts. The most important monuments were built during that time: the Parthenon, built by Ictinus, the Erechtheon, the Propylaea, the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, designed by Mnesicles and the small temple Athena Nike.”
The beautiful and one of the world’s best museums waits for their return.
For the record:
Elgin, the vandal and the thief, removed and stole:
247 feet—just under half—of the total friezes(1), 15 metopes(2), 17 pediment(3),
and various pieces of architecture figures from the Parthenon.
In addition, removed and stole one of the caryatids (female sculptures)
from the nearby portico of the Erechtheion,
4 fragments from the frieze of the temple to Athena Nike,
and architectural members from the Propylaia.
Recent Comments