Just so happened that last year I saw the sculpture in person. I took pictures and made a FOTOVOLOS APOLLO webpage. I checked Wikipedia and there is no page for this, so I started one at my Wikipedia space.

Walking with the gods of ancient Athens and Lord Elgin, the vandal.

April 17, 2010

Spring is the perfect season to visit the great antiquities of Greece. In April, the climate is mild and sunny. You will avoid the heat and hoards of the summer months. On our return from the island, Louise and I spent a day in Athens before the flight home – a flight which escaped the cloud of volcanic ash choking our skies by just twenty-four hours. And, not least, a flight which rushed us back to witness Nick Clegg’s sudden elevation as the new super-star of British politics. The Liberal Democrats are on a roll. David Cameron and his Cameroons are on the defensive. And Gordon Brown continues to bore us to tears. It looks as if we are now heading for a hung parliament after the General Election on May 6th. A bad thing in my book and a recipe for weak government.

But back to the city of Pericles and the cradle of democracy. From the Sofitel at the airport, we took the Athens metro to Syntagma (Constitution Square), a journey of 45 minutes. As we emerged into the sunlight and walked up to the Parliament Building, the old Royal Palace, a detachment of Evzones – the elite brigade of soldiers who guard the Palace – were marching towards us. Our arrival had coincided with the changing of the guard – a pageant of pure Ruritanian comedy. The Evzones parade in traditional uniform: long tassled berets, white tights, pleated mini-skirts called “foustanelas”, and “sarouchi”- shoes adorned with ridiculously enormous pom-poms. The ceremony of the changing of the guard bears no resemblance to the pomp and strut enacted outside Buckingham Palace. Here, on Syntagma, we watched a complex and hilarious military dance routine. Sort of Zorba the Greek meets the goose-step, this is a spectacle not to be missed!

Our diversion with the magnificent Evzones delayed the real purpose of our journey – to visit the new Acropolis Museum. The reviews in the British press had been enthusiastic and we were not disappointed. This is now a world-class institution, endowing the Greek people with great credit for their vision and imagination. Our visit was a unique and uplifting experience. Unique because, unlike other national museums where contents tend to be divorced from their location, this one is the harmonious marriage of theme and situation. As a consequence, the visitor’s pleasure and understanding are magnified tenfold. This is achieved by an architectural design of sheer brilliance and a feat of engineering which is inspired.

On the approach to the Museum’s entrance, a huge oval balcony in plate glass gives way to a deep well exposing the ruins of ancient Athens at the foot of the Acropolis. Suddenly, the visitor is made aware that this glittering modern building has been constructed over the site of an on-going archaeological excavation. Inside the Museum, the idea is carried through on the ground floor by glass walkways revealing more of the excavation. And upstairs, when you arrive at the third floor’s Parthenon Gallery, the temple’s entire sculpted decorations are exhibited against fantastic views of the Parthenon itself, a few hundred yards beyond the picture windows.

Of course, these sculpted decorations are not all entirely authentic. The curators have been obliged to mix original sculptures with copies of those you will find in the British Museum. So, it wasn’t long before we learned that the Acropolis Museum’s principal hate-figure is the 19th century looting diplomat, Lord Elgin, who carried off various marbles, including one of six Caryatids (sculpted maidens), to embellish his Scottish stately home. Indeed, Elgin attempted to remove a second Caryatid by sawing it into pieces, smashing the statue and abandoning it in the process. In the end, he sold his loot to the British Museum in 1816 – claiming all along that his only motive was to preserve the treasures from being destroyed by the Turks during the Greek War of Independence.

In the Museum’s book shop, we got chatting with the manager. “You don’t like Lord Elgin much, do you?” I asked. “No, we don’t,” she replied bluntly. Then after a pause, she smiled, “But we love the British people”.

My vote’s with Greece. Return the Parthenon Marbles. The Acropolis Museum is where they belong.

KitChapman