The British Museum houses the Elgin Marbles, which is a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures taken from the Parthenon and other structures from the Acropolis of Athens by agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, during Ottoman Greece and transported to Britain. Most of the sculptures were crafted in the 5th century BCE under the supervision of sculptor and architect Phidias. Between 1801 and 1812, Elgin's representatives removed approximately half of the surviving Parthenon sculptures, as well as sculptures from the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Propylaia, and brought them to Britain to create a personal museum.
The British Museum's possession of the marbles has been a source of ongoing international controversy. In 1816, a parliamentary inquiry in the UK concluded that Elgin had obtained the marbles through legal means. He subsequently sold them to the British government that same year, and they have since been under the trusteeship of the British Museum.
Comments 0