The Parthenon Marbles — magnificent, unmatched in beauty, and belonging to the whole of humanity — are once again the star attraction of an exhibition abroad, this time in Germany, dressed up in cutting-edge technology.
The Liebieghaus Museum of Ancient Sculpture in Frankfurt is preparing to unveil, over an eight-month run, two fragments from the Parthenon’s decorative sculptures, offering what it calls a new perspective on the temple of Athena’s eastern pediment.
The exhibition’s organisers claim a first: bringing together isolated figures from scattered fragments into one documented, coherent image. According to the organisers, the show culminates in a specially designed moving image in which the figures of the eastern pediment come to life.
But beneath the technological gloss, this exhibition drags back into the light an old sin that was never actually forgotten: the plunder of the Parthenon Marbles. Through its actions, the Frankfurt Museum legitimises the receiver of the sculptures’ stolen goods — namely, the British Museum.
It treats the British Museum as the rightful owner, the lawful custodian, of property Elgin tore violently from the Parthenon, inflicting damage on the site that can never be undone.
And in doing so, the British get exactly what they want by the back door: a route to keeping, permanently and “legally”, the wealth and heritage of another nation. It’s a door left open not just for Greece, but for every people who have watched their antiquities turned into trophies.
Greece’s reaction to the loan of stolen goods was swift and sharp. The Acropolis Museum refused to take part in the Frankfurt exhibition the moment it learned that fragments of ancient Greek sculpture would be arriving courtesy of the British Museum.
The message is clear, and it hasn’t changed: there is only one place on earth where the Parthenon Marbles can — and must — be reunited. Greece.
