The foundation of western civilization was laid by the ancient country of Greece. It lies at the tip of the eastern European peninsula with its capital in the beautiful city of Athens. Greece is known for its culture that goes back to the early stone age and contains various relics of the ancient world. This rich culture is still preserved in the countless monuments which are scattered across the country.
These monuments act like windows into the past, giving us glimpses of how the world used to be all those years ago. However, sometimes, they can become a part of controversies that can bitterly divide two nations. One such treasure has had two nations at a standoff with each other for decades now.
Greece is a country whose historical and cultural legacy continues to shape the modern world. If you have ever voted, watched a movie, read a book, or gazed at the night sky in wonder, you can thank the ancient greeks for it. They presented us with democracy, philosophy, writing contracts and taxes. The country is bestowed with aesthetically pleasing landmarks that have existed for thousands of years and are considered historically significant.
During the 1700s a new trend emerged in Europe, to roam the world or better known as Tourism. After graduation, sons from rich families would often head out to three years of long excursions across the continent. These voyages would often cease where modern Europe civilization originated, Athens.
By this point in history, Greece had been governed by the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years. They ruled Greece for 400 years until the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Under the Ottoman rule, one significant landmark of Athens went through some major changes.
The Parthenon is one of the most exceptional treasures of Athens and was built thousands of years ago as a temple to the goddess Athena. Under the Ottoman rule, its functionality changed quite a bit. At first, it was converted into a garrison. Then the Sultan, Mehmed II, turned the Parthenon into a mosque. Soon, trouble came knocking at their door.
In 1687, the Ottoman Empire had to defend themselves against the invading army of Venice. For some reason, the Ottomans believed that the only logical thing to do is use The Parthenon to store gunpowder. This, of course, caused a lot of damage to the structure. But the situation went from bad to worse when the opposing army attacked.
It is still unknown whether the opposition knew that the Parthenon was storing gunpowder or not, but they targetted the monument and attacked for three continuous days. Finally, a mortar struck the Parthenon detonating the gunpowder in it. This resulted in the entire roof of the Parthenon to explode leaving behind only the columns that are standing there to this day.
After the explosion, the army of Venice made its way to the Parthenon. Admiral Francesco Morosini, the doge of Venice, attempted to raid the Parthenon of its most valuable treasures but somehow ended up destroying most of it. He even shattered a gigantic statue of Poseidon into tiny pieces.
By the eighteenth century, the Parthenon was in a desolated state. Since it was already worn out, the visitors felt no shame in stealing the broken pieces whenever they could. This happened so frequently that it led to fruitful black market business for collectors. People began to sell the stolen pieces and earn tons of money from it.
Thomas Bruce was a Scottish nobleman and the seventh Earl of Elgin. He was looking towards a promising career as a politician. But when he was called in to act as the ambassador to the Ottoman Sultan, Selim III, he embarked upon a journey that changed the course of history forever.
Even before accepting his post, Bruce had addressed many officials of the British Government to ask if they are interested in hiring artists to create drawings and molds of the Parthenon sculptures claiming that he wants to make his embassy profitable to the progress of fine arts in Great Britain.
This seemingly noble request on Bruce's part was fueled by something entirely different. He wanted to decorate his new mansion in Scotland with the finest examples of Greek art. To his dismay, the British government rejected his request. So he decided to take it upon himself and get the work done anyway. He employed several artists to make drawings and casts of the sculptures.
Bruce, along with his artists, set out on his voyage to Greece, his ship sailing freely in the blue ocean. The ship was fashioned from an ancient oak, the rich timber was an almost black brown. The open sea was welcoming, constantly in motion underneath the clouds which sail above. After days of sailing, Bruce spotted the magical land of Greece.
Once he reached Greece, Bruce wanted to see the Parthenon in person and went to check it out. But when he approached the Ottomans about it, he was denied entry. They demanded Bruce to obtain a firman from the Sultan. A firman was a royal decree, issued by the ruler in Islamic states. Bruce saw this as an opportunity to talk about the drawings as well.
The Sultan granted Bruce a firman, allowing his artists to make sketches of the Parthenon's sculptures but forbade the taking of any casts or sculptures outside the Parthenon. The sultan's decision was solely inspired by the fact that there was a mosque built within the monument.
A few months later, Bruce sensed that a Greek rebellion was inevitable considering the sensitive state of Europe, he was not sure how long this part of Greece will be under the Sultan's rule. As a result, he decided to renegotiate the terms of the firman.
By the year 1801, which was a year after he became the British ambassador, Bruce succeeded in getting permission from the Sultan to not only cast the sculptures but also to take away any number of intriguing blocks of stone with old inscriptions and figures on them.
The stealing of the Parthenon marbles commenced immediately. Bruce's workers stripped the monument of over 60% of its sculptures within months and by the end of the year, they began packing them up and exporting the boxes back to Britain.
The sculptures which were obtained from Greece included around fourteen figures from the East and West pediments, fifteen metopes from the monument's south quarter and fifty-six of the surviving ninety-seven blocks of the Parthenon frieze.
Unfortunately, Bruce's greed for Greek antiquities was not confined to just the Parthenon. He succeeded in removing various architectural members and sculptures from the Propylaia, and the temple of Nike, from the sacred rock along with numerous inscriptions, gravestones, and many other priceless artifacts.
In total, around 253 valuable antiques were shipped off to Britain. Bruce and his workers shipped off more than 200 boxes in the span of two years. A few years later, the Greek War of Independence occurred which put an end to the looting of the country's cultural heritage.
Roughly half of the Parthenon survived, which means out of 524 feet, 247 feet survived. This included 15 metopes and 17 figures from the pediments. It also includes articles from other buildings on the Acropolis like the Propylaia, the Erechtheion and the temple of Athena Nike.
Bruce tried to sell the stolen marbles to the British Museum, but the British Government displayed no interest. Bruce was demanding £74000 which seemed too high for what they considered were poorly preserved sculptures.
However, in the upcoming years, the interest in classical greek art began to grow. As a result, a parliamentary hearing was conducted by the House of Commons to determine the fate of the stolen sculptures. A petition was filed against Thomas Bruce and his ownership of the sculptures was challenged.
Bruce's only defense was that he was granted permission in writing, by the Ottomans, to remove the sculptures. He claimed his only motive was to save these magnificent artworks from any further vandalism. When he was asked to show the firman to the court, Bruce declared he didn't have it.
As a witness, Dr. Hunt was called to the court. Dr. Hunt had accompanied Bruce as a Chaplain to the British embassy. He submitted an Italian translation of the "firman" to the committee of the British Museum written solely from his recollection of the original.
According to Dr. Hunt, the substance of the firman granted Bruce and the artists employed by him the permission "to view, draw and model the ancient Temples of the Idols and the sculptures upon them, to make excavations and to take away any stone that might appear interesting to them."
Dr. Hunt added, "no objection was at any time made, nor any displeasure shown, by the Turkish government, against the extensive interpretation which was put upon this firman." It was also discussed that soon enough the sculptures might have been removed by their government from the original site anyway if they had not been taken away and secured for this country by Thomas Bruce.
The House of Commons excused Bruce and offered him £35,000 for the stolen artwork, which he quickly accepted. The deal closed and the sculptures were taken directly by the British Museum where they have prevailed to date.
Bruce's proposal of displaying the relics in public proved to be prosperous. Tourists from all around the world came to see the beautiful pieces of Greek history. The whole thing became a massive hit for tourism in London making it the largest exhibit at The British Museum.
The idea of displaying the relics might have been a hit but Bruce's other ideas were not so successful. He planned to restore some of the artifacts to make them look more attractive. But this idea did not execute well and the process ended up destroying the pieces. They shattered even further and instead of improving their state they ended up being worse than before.
In the year 1838, Michael Faraday was appointed to help with the problem of the deteriorating surface of the marbles because of exposure to pollution. However, despite many efforts, it was unsuccessful. In 1857, a second attempt was made. Again, the concern was to clean it without damaging the surface, which did not seem possible.
A third attempt to clean the marbles was made in 1937, at the building of the Duveen gallery. Lord Duveen, the sponsor of the gallery, instructed his team to kill the discoloration of the marbles, which according to him meant that the marbles are meant to be shiny white.
The cleaning was carried out without authorization from the British Museum. They worked with copper chisels, metal brushes, and strong chemicals. The process was so precise that it scraped off as much as 2.5mm of the finer surface features of many of the sculptures.
Once this news reached the museum, an effort to cover it up was made but it was useless. The story was leaked to the British press provoking a minor scandal. The British Museum acknowledged these accusations by simply stating "mistakes were made at that time."
The exhibit with the sculptures remained on display in various locations until the year 1938 when they were moved to storage to save them from damage from bombings during the second world war. They were not displayed to the public for decades.
Two hundred years later, the Parthenon controversy has still not subsided. People around the world are strongly divided on the debate of whom the collection belongs to. Most of the Greek population naturally feels that the pieces should be returned to their home in Athens. The Greek Government has constantly appealed Britain to return them for almost two centuries.
Britain is not interested in returning the marbles. Officials claim that the art is representative of the European culture as a whole and not just Greek culture. Hence they think it belongs in Britain where they are displayed at one of the biggest and most popular exhibits at the British Museum.
The British Museum claims that the Acropolis Museum in Athens allows the rest of the Parthenon sculptures to be recognized against the backdrop of ancient Greek and Athenian history whereas the Parthenon sculptures in London are a primary symbol of ancient Athenian culture in the context of world history.
This controversy had received tons of publicity recently. The reason being, Amal Clooney, who is a British barrister, criticized Britain for keeping the sculptures. She is a part of the legal team who is advising the Greek government on various possibilities to obtain the return of the marbles.
Amal Clooney claimed that Greece has "just reasons" for demanding the return of the Elgan marbles and that Britain should be embarrassed for keeping them. Despite this statement, Neil MacGregor, chief of the British Museum denied to return them. According to him, the sculptures should stay in London because they provide "maximum public benefit" this way.
Many people reprimand Thomas Bruce for the ruthless way the art was dealt with. Pieces were painted over and aggressively cleaned to the point that the surface of the marble was altered. Defenders of Bruce claim that he did the right thing by taking the artifacts as it preserved the Parthenon from being robbed even further. At least if they are in Britain, they are still accessible to the public.
As of now, the two countries are at a standstill. But this has not stopped Greece from mocking Britain. The new Acropolis Museum of Athens has a gigantic abandoned section wholly dedicated to the stolen artifacts, just in case Britain ever decides to return them.
Apart from the Britsh Museum in London and The Acropolis Museum in Athens, that share about 30% of sculptures each, other major European Museums display the remaining few pieces. This includes the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Vatican Museums in the Vatican city.
The situation is only bound to intensify after the British Museum declared that they will be lending the marble sculpture of the river god Llissos to Russia. Greece will be enraged that the British Museum is ready to send a part of the Parthenon to Russia but not back to Greece.
What most people are not aware of is the fact that if the British Museum were to return the sculptures, it would set an example to return all those countless other looted relics to their motherlands. This would declare the end of the biggest museums in America as well as Europe. As one critic noted, "the sun may have set on the British Empire, but old habits die hard."