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The Parthenon in Athens is a building with a long and complex history. Built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, it was for a thousand years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque, and finally an archaeological ruin. The building was altered and the sculptures much damaged over the course of the centuries. The first major loss occurred around AD 500 when the Parthenon was converted into a church. When the city was under siege by the Venetians in 1687, the Parthenon itself was used as a gunpowder store. A huge explosion blew the roof off and destroyed a large portion of the remaining sculptures. The building has been a ruin ever since. Archaeologists worldwide are agreed that the surviving sculptures could never be re-attached to the structure.
By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decoration remained. Between 1801 and 1805 Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire of which Athens had been a part for some 350 years, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities, removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself. Lord Elgin was passionate about ancient Greek culture and transported the sculptures back to Britain. The arrival of the sculptures in London had a profound effect on the European public, regenerating interest in ancient Greek culture and influencing contemporary artistic trends.
These sculptures were acquired from Lord Elgin by the British Museum in 1816 following a Parliamentary Select Committee enquiry which fully investigated and approved the legality of Lord Elgin's actions. Since then the sculptures have all been on display to the public in the British Museum, free of entry charge.
Sculptures surviving from the Parthenon are located in museums in eight different countries. The majority of the sculptures are roughly equally divided between Athens and London, while important pieces are also to be found in other major European museums, including the Louvre and the Vatican.
Parthenon Sculptures in Athens
Recently the Greek authorities have continued the process of removing the sculptures from the Parthenon, work that began over 200 years ago. Nearly all of the sculptures have now been removed from the ruin. Those of the sculptures in Athens will be transferred to the New Acropolis Museum when work on it is completed (due in 2008).
Parthenon Sculptures in London
The sculptures in London, sometimes known as the 'Elgin Marbles', have been on permanent public display in the British Museum since 1817, free of charge. Here they are seen by a world audience of five million visitors a year and are actively studied and researched to promote worldwide understanding of ancient Greek culture. The Museum has published the results of its research extensively.
Parthenon Sculptures in other museums
The following institutions also hold sculpture from the Parthenon :
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Vatican Museums
- National Museum, Copenhagen
- Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna
- University Museum, Würzburg
- Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonio Salinas, Palermo
- Glyptothek, Munich |
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