exact proprietor of the Elgin Marbles has been disputed for many years between the British Museum and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Greece. The British Museum intends to keep the Elgin Marbles in London and on display in the Duveen galleries. The Greek Ministry of Culture is trying to acquire the Elgin Marbles, who claims Greece is the correct residence of the marbles, to be placed in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens. My stance in this dispute is for the Eglin Marbles to be returned to Greece
mortality throughout his sonnet, “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”, wherein these sentiments are engendered by the sight of the infamous Greek
The Elgin Marbles are a collection of Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions and architectural pieces that were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon in Athens. Lord Elgin (British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire) had agents remove about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon. The Elgin Marbles, also referred to as the Parthenon Marbles, were transported to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the marbles was supported by some, while others (including the poet, Lord Byron)
of these important sculptures, inscriptions and architectural columns have been placed within the museum. Due to a series of unfortunate events including an explosion in the 1600's, the sculpture and marble structures sat in disrepair for over 200 years. In 1816, an English gentleman named Lord Elgin purchased them from the ruling Ottoman Empire and brought them back to London where they have been on display in the British Museum. Although saving them from further harm and ruin in the 1800s and 1900's
changing boundaries and migration have all in some way contributed to this diaspora of art. There is clear evidence that the historic placing of objects in locations remote from their origin has on occasion afforded protection and preservation, The Elgin Marbles in The British Museum being a case in point. However, given the overarching principle of self determination it is difficult to argue that serendipitous historic placement is sufficient reason for items of true national heritage to be kept indefinitely
There is one issue that all ancient Greek art historians and archeologist agree on, and that issue is that the reason why the Parthenon frieze cannot be correctly solved is that there is no ancient literature or sources that appropriately documents the context of the frieze. Without contextual evidence, the intertextuality of the subject matter corresponding to the Parthenon frieze becomes ambiguous to the modern viewer. Therefore, modern academics can only conceptualize and speculate about what
“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles,” John Keats uses Greek art as inspiration for a reflection on the inevitability of death and how in the end even his best memories may not feel good enough. The impending role that mortality has on his existence is shown through Keats’s careful use of similes, diction, and a quirk to the rhyme scheme. The generalized images that the words create and the cluttered meter contribute to Keats’s theme that memories crumble over time like the Elgin Marbles, and eventually
There is an ongoing debate on whether the Parthenon Marbles, now located in London, England, should be returned to their original homeland of Athens, Greece. The marbles were removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin from 1801-1812 and transported to England. They were sold to the British government in 1816 and put in the British Museum where they have been for the last 200 years. I believe that the marbles should now be returned to Greece, not only because of the method and circumstances surrounding
of events such as the circumstances about how Lord Elgin was able to gain permission to transport the Parthenon marbles, the documentation is either bias or flawed. An example is how Lord Elgin has been viewed when he “liberated” the Parthenon marbles off the walls to be taken to his estate through the use of blackmail. The previous statement was a common opinion of British and Greeks citizens who saw Elgin as a thief who only wanted the marbles to put on display in his home. Alternatively others
In his sonnet "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles for the First Time," John Keats presents a series of various forms of conflict and tension. Most prominent is the poet's sense of his own fleeting existence juxtaposed with the eternity of the Greek marble sculptures and, perhaps, with the timelessness of art in general. However, there is another, more subtle tension between what is in existence, and what is not, an absence which paradoxically manifests as a form of existence in itself. The presence of this
1). According to the National Geographic video, “Parthenon Marbles Battle”, two thousand years after the Parthenon was built, in the late 1600's the Parthenon was blown up during a war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, which left the Parthenon almost in complete ruins. Then, in the early 1800's, there came Lord Elgin, who was a huge fanatic of Greek history. Because Greece was currently under conquest by the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin made the Ottoman Empire a deal and bought the remains of the
In a political sense, the British have a powerful claim to the Parthenon marbles as they are the legal owners of the artefacts. This is due to Lord Elgin selling the Marbles to the British government when he was in bankruptcy. Since the British got ownership of the relics from Elgin instead of taking the Marbles out of the Parthenon, they have complete possession of the sculptures. But the Marbles were not even illegally taken from Greece, as a document was written that allowed Elgin’s men to take
Legal Ownership of the Parthenon Marbles The controversy began almost one hundred years ago. Between 1801 and 1812, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed several sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens and shipped them to England, where he sold them to the British Museum in 1816. 167 years later, Melina Mercouri, Greek Minister of Culture, requested that the “Elgin” Marbles be returned. This request sparked one of the greatest debates the art
Without the combined use of perception, emotion, logic, and language, my ability to pursue knowledge and gain an understanding of the world around me is limited. For me, measuring the success of the pursuit of knowledge is based on the fact that I am able to comprehend knowledge from multiple viewpoints, and not be restricted to a certain way of thinking. In Maslow’s quote, being only restricted to one tool, or way of knowing, is an issue for me to pursue knowledge because of the restrictions and
Williams, Research Keeper of Greek and Roman antiquities at the British Museum, several members of the audience stood up on behalf of Greece and expressed their outrage at the British Museum’s refusal to return the Parthenon Sculptures, or the Elgin Marbles, to the city of Athens. Dr. Williams answered their scathing interjections with a well-rehearsed summary of the issues key points and complexities of the issue, and it was clear he encountered such protests regularly. By now, even the casual student
John Keats' "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" is a sonnet written upon visiting the British Museum, subsequent to the country's purchase of marble statues that had originally been part of the Parthenon in Athens. The poem contains a web of underlying tensions and conflicts that are evident in both the words and imagery of the poem. However, unlike other sonnets in which conflict is often resolved by the end, this sonnet leaves a lasting feeling of despair which sheds light on the internal strife embodied
compare and contrast in several ways. Their historical importance as symbols, their sculptural mediums, styles and dimensions, and their functions make them historically relevant. The Reduced Replica of Athena Parthenos - at the MFA in Boston is a marble statue which depicts a graceful, robed female icon. The statue has lost both arms, and is dressed in a chiton Athena , also referred to as Minerva, the Maiden, or Parthenos was the Favorite daughter of Zeus. Legend states that she was not generated
Factors Affecting the Decomposition of Marble Buildings by Acid Rain Background Acid Rain: Nitrogen acids and sulphur dioxides come out of tall chimneys and vehicles. These go into the air, and air currents carry the gases away, and they react with water vapour and oxygen. This produces H2SO4 (sulphuric acid) and HNO3 (nitric acid). The acids become part of a cloud, and it falls down to earth, as acid rain or snow. This can end up miles away from the original source. The acid rain removes nutrients
operations of rocks and minerals. Gold, silver, gypsum, and marble mines. I will describe the different mining techniques, economic advantages and disadvantages, as well as how the rock or minerals are shipped. Marble Colorado, is located in the Rocky Mountains that was incorporated in 1899. The town is the location of a historic Yule Marble quarry along the Rocky Mountains in western Colorado. Quarry operations began in the late 19th century. The marble of the quarry is considered to be exceptional and has
building. In addition, the dome was created at a height that is a perfect sphere above the ground which was a mathematical and structural This is quite different than the Parthenon, which focused on the pillars both inside and outside of the building. Marble stone pillars are a focal point on the façade and entrance was inside the Pantheon, but they were not made with meticulous seamless vertical fluting down them nor were they pieced together to change the width of the pillar to create an optical illusion