Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles. A collection of Greek sculpture and architectural fragments from the Acropolis in Athens acquired by the British diplomat Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766–1841), in 1801–3, when he was ambassador to the Sultan of Turkey, who at this time ruled Greece. The collection (now in the British Museum, London) consists mainly of sculptures from the Parthenon (most of what had survived), but includes other pieces, notably a caryatid from the Erechtheum. They were shipped to Britain over a period of several years and part of the collection was first exhibited to selected visitors (including some of the most distinguished artists of the day) in 1807. Before this, original Greek sculpture of the classical age had been virtually unknown in Britain (people had been familiar only with Roman and late Hellenistic copies) and they made an enormous impact. Flaxman was bowled over, declaring them ‘the finest works of art I have seen’, and Haydon wrote, ‘I consider it truly the greatest blessing that ever happened to this country their being brought here.’ When asked to restore them, Canova said ‘it would be a sacrilege in him or any man to presume to touch them with a chisel’.

Many other artists, including Chantrey, Lawrence, Nollekens, and West, expressed similar opinions, but a dissenting voice came from Richard Payne Knight, who said, ‘You have lost your labour, my Lord Elgin. Your marbles are overrated: they are not Greek: they are Roman of the time of Hadrian.’ The enormous expense involved in buying and transporting the marbles left Elgin in debt and in 1811 he offered to sell them to the nation for what amounted to the price they had cost him. Eventually, after the deliberations of a special committee of the House of Commons, they were bought for the British Museum in 1816 for £35,000—about half the sum Elgin had spent. The committee rightly dismissed Payne Knight's objections and the sculptures have come to be universally recognized as one of the summits of ancient art. However, they have continued to be the subject of controversy on another count—that of the morality or legality of their removal when Greece was under the dominion of a foreign power. Byron wrote of them as ‘poor plunder from a bleeding land’ (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto ii, 1812), and a campaign to have them restored to Greece is active today. See also Phidias.