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Published online 15 June 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.574
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Traces of paint confirmed on Parthenon sculptures
Pristine white marbles were once a riot of colour.
Researchers have confirmed that the sculptures on the triangular gables of the Parthenon temple in Athens were originally brightly painted.
Conservation scientists at the British Museum in London used a non-invasive technique to reveal invisible traces of an ancient pigment known as Egyptian blue.
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Hope we get to see some replicas painted like the originals. Britain does NOT have the right to claim ownership of art stolen from Greece or any other country. Let them make exact replicas and return the originals.
>The British Museum ... will not return any of them >except on a short-term loan ? and then only if Greece >acknowledges the British Museum's rightful ownership. I guess they can't get more cynic than that. "Rightful" ownership? Interpretation, please?
I agree with the previous comments: "rightful ownership?". In any case what else can we expect from them since they cannot create anything worthwhile of their own, they rely on theft.
If one recognizes that all museums are "loot houses" to a certain extent and one could come up with a code of honor and conduct among looters, issues of ownership of ancient artifacts could be sorted out without individual countries and their museums feeling threatened. In keeping with this sentiment I agree with Mr. Cookman's comment that the " loot house " in question should make a copy and send the original back to Greece, where the pieces truly belong. Very many institutions and governments have to agree to this course of action and I am afraid this is going take awhile.
On the West Frieze in the New Acropolis Museum, you can see with your own eyes the traces of colour (in this case, dark green) on the original sculptures. So "the first definitive evidence that the sculptures. were painted" is nothing more than British Museum propaganda. If it is true of the London sculptures, then we know why: no paint had much chance of surviving the ruthless 'cleaning' of 1937-38. Professor Anthony Snodgrass, Chairman of the BCRPM,Fellow of the British Academy, Professor Emiritus of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge
I too would love to see a replica of the marbles painted in the 'original' colours. In the meantime I wonder if someone can't photoshop a version? However, I completely disagree that the marbles should be moved to Greece. What nonsense. They were purchased legally from the government and moved in open daylight, not secreted away as a theft or taken by force. In any event, if they are returned anywhere they should go to Ankara/Constantinople in exchange for a full refund of the purchase price.
Carlos Driscoll in a previous post decided to add a rare gem of gimcrackery to the discussion over the ownership and future of the Parthenon marbles. His suggestion: either leave them in London or ?return? them to Ankara/Constantinople for a full refund. First, the Ottoman Government was never paid a single dime for allowing the breakup of the Parthenon marbles. All money that was paid for their purchase was from the British Government to Lord Elgin. Why they would have to pay a refund instead of a purchase price remains a mystery. Second, the idea behind the return of the Elgin Marbles is one of repatriation and reunification. Since the sculptures didn?t originate in Ankara/Constantinople nor do these localities house any other part of the Parthenon what would be the point in their ?return? to these cities? Third, if Driscoll believes that in case the UK doesn?t own the marbles then it is the modern state of Turkey, I guess that means also that all foreign occupation, no matter how historically distant or illegitimate, trumps modern property rights and political realities. Consider the endless possibilities for ownership claims here, the UK from the US, Italy from every place a Roman soldier set foot, Spain from Latin America, Belgium from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and so on. Unfortunately, the inanity of the arguments of those opposing the repatriation of the Parthenon marbles is only matched by a stubbornness of similar magnitude and at this point it seems the last substantial obstacle to the reunification of these magnificent sculptures.
The Smithosnian magazine had an article on original colors in July 2008: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/true-colors.html There is a gallery of some of the reconstructions.
Konstantinos, Does not your argument about modern property right trump your argument about repatriation? Modern property rights hold that they belong to the British museum, not to the modern state of Greece. Certainly the modern state of Greece has no more historical claim to them than the modern state of England. Just as certainly they should be returned to the Parthenon as it is always preferable to have historical artifacts in there right setting.
Adam, I do not think that the argument for the return of the Parthenon marbles is primarily a legal one but rather a moral one. Although, a cursory look through the relevant article on Wikipedia makes clear that the legal argument is far from settled it remains that "possession is nine tenths of the law". However, I strongly disagree that ?the modern state of Greece has no more historical claim to them than the modern state of England?. These sculptures were created in Greece as an expression of Greek thought and ingenuity of that time and adorned for 2300 of their 2500 year old history a Greek temple, which still stands in its original location in Athens, the capital of Greece not England. It is exactly this lesser historical affinity and moral uneasiness over their possession, which leads a majority of the British public to consistently vote for the repatriation of the Parthenon marbles in surveys.