The Parthenon Marbles: Athens or London?

Here are some thoughts on the display of the Parthenon marbles recorded live on the Athenian Akropolis.

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The New Acropolis Museum: Archaeological Material in Context

The New Acropolis Museum is due to open in Athens this week. This is a project that captures my imagination. It brings together the sculptures, inscriptions and other archaeological material from the area of the Athenian Acropolis and displays them together in a single location.

There is an ascent through the archaic sculptures dating to the sixth and early fifth centuries BCE. Statues of women, riders and scribes reflect the types of dedications that were being made in this urban sanctuary in the decades leading up to the Persian Wars. The surviving colours on the painted marble are perhaps testimony to the tidying operation that took place after the Persian destruction. Here are the architectural and sculptural remains of the early temple of Athena that was built under the Tyranny.

This display prepares the visitor for the ascent to the level where the sculptures (and casts) from the Parthenon itself are displayed. The frieze looks outwards as it would have done on the original building (and unlike the display in the Duveen Gallery in the British Museum). There is also a visual link with the Parthenon itself.

Elsewhere objects from some of the smaller sanctuaries that littered the slopes of the Acropolis are on display reminding us of the diversity of cult activity in the heart of this ancient city.

So why does this new museum capture my imagination?

It is because it gathers together archaeological material from a single area of one ancient city in one coherent display. The New Acropolis Museum is not an encyclopedic museum; there is no need for it to take that mantle. This is unashamedly an archaeological museum that presents the finds to new generations of visitors from around the world. In that sense it is a universal museum.

Image © David Gill

Hellenic Ministry of Culture responds to the British Museum

Antonis Samaras of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture has responded to a radio interview given by Hannah Boulton, a press officer at the British Museum on Skaï (press release, June 11, 2009; story on Skaï; see also "Greece rejects Parthenon Marbles loan offer: ministry", Agence France Presse, June 11, 2009).

Boulton apparently said that the Trustees of the British Museum would be willing to consider a three month loan on condition that the Hellenic Government accepted British ownership of the sculptures (αν η ελληνική κυβέρνηση αναγνώριζε ότι ανήκουν στο Βρετανικό Μουσείο).

Samaras felt that this indicated that the British Museum was willing to enter a dialogue with the Greek authorities. The British offer was rejected (Η Κυβέρνηση, ωστόσο, όπως θα έκανε και κάθε άλλη ελληνική κυβέρνηση στη θέση της, είναι υποχρεωμένη να απαντήσει αρνητικά στη συγκεκριμένη πρόταση του Βρετανικού Μουσείου). Samaras would consider offering the British Museum material to fill the space (the Duveen Gallery) left by the Parthenon sculptures.

Image
The New Akropolis Museum © David Gill.

War Booty Goes on Display in Berlin

The exhibition, "The Return of the Gods – Berlin’s Hidden Olympus", opened in the Pergamonmuseum (Antikensammlung), Berlin this week (27 November 2008 - 5 July 2009). It celebrates the 50th anniversary of the return of antiquities from the (then) Soviet Union.

To also mark the occasion, the Collection of Classical Antiquities will be placing 170 art works on display, which, for restoration purposes, had had to remain in storage until now. The sculptures, vases and craftwork objects stand as representatives for thousands of art works which came back to Berlin after a period of exile in Moscow and St. Petersburg lasting thirteen years, the most important of which was the frieze of the world famous Pergamon Altar.

A short report has been issued (Brittani Sonneburg, "Berlin museum shows off antique gods", AP, November 27, 2008). The pieces were mostly derived from Italy, Turkey and Greece and formed part of the collection Frederick the Great.

In 1945, at the close of World War II, invading Soviet Soldiers seized the collection and sent it back to Russia, which was the fate of many artistic treasures in Germany. Russia declared the art had been seized as retribution for the 27 million Soviet lives lost and destruction of entire cities during the conflict. The two nations are still negotiating the return of many pieces.

But the Pergamon's antiquities were returned to East Germany 13 years later as a symbol of Cold War camaraderie between the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic, as East Germany was known.

The restoration of the collection has been made with the support of a contribution from the Brazilian foundation, FAAP.