The case of the return of two solemn Greek Orthodox Patriachal documents and an 18th century Ottoman firman has been highlighted in this tweet from @artlawles. It is an interesting case that is also relevant to the ongoing debate over the return of looted cultural treasures 1/6

https://twitter.com/artlawalex/status/1353986282293235712

According to records kept by the #BritishLibrary @britishlibrary the rare sigallia confirming the patriarchal value of the Holy Monastery of Panagia #Chrysopodaritissa and the related Turkish Sultanate firman of 1786 (pictured) were "presented" in 1988 by Walter Stecklemacher 2/6

The poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn", with its opening lines “Thou still unravished bride of quietness,/Thou foster child of silence and slow time”, was inspired by John Keats’ viewing of the #ParthenonMarbles in the Elgin Room of the #BritishMuseum in 1817. 1/6

https://twitter.com/Keats_Shelley/status/1345007620072083457

A panel in the #Parthenon frieze arouses Keats’ attention where the procession features "that heifer lowing at the skies", with its upturned tilt and stretch and silken flanks. Keats’ sylvan historian can only but enquire: “What men or gods are these?" 2/6

The full article (behind the paywall) by @antheecarassava on the return of the #Eikosiphoinissa gospel manuscript is here. 1/3

https://twitter.com/antheecarassava/status/1331072030003879937

The background story of the return of the gospel manuscript by the @museumofBible can be accessed here museumofthebible.org/eikosiphoiniss… 2/3

"You Hide Me Still: 50 Years On"- An iconic film shot in 1970 in #BritishMuseum by Nii Kwate Owoo which exposed the theft and concealment of African artefacts in the basement of the British Museum. In 2020 the spirit of #restitution beckons. eventbrite.co.uk/e/you-hide-me-… @EventbriteUK The seminar Lost Heritage was held at Africa Centre London in 1981. A #UNESCO spokesman noted that it was ironic that the conference was being held in UK, a “country which has given a great deal to the world and to other peoples but which has also taken a great deal from them”

A Benin Bronze With Fishy Provenance Goes to Auction hyperallergic.com/573457/fishy-p… The plaque was part of a large cache of Benin decorative plaques looted during the British punitive military expedition of 1897. This plaque, cast in brass, depicts a mudfish, not dissimilar to a plaque currently in the collection of @WeltmuseumWien which was 'acquired' in 1899

The #AcropolisMuseum in #Athens is a striking museum completed in 2009. Designed by the renown architect Bernard #Tschumi the museum was built to be in harmony with the Sacred Rock and the #Parthenon itself. #Museum #architecture #MuseumsUnlocked @profdanhicks @cultureGR 1/4 Tschumi and his Greek collaborator, Michael Fotiadis, came up with a design based on movement and light, embodying an ethos that this museum needs to consider its role both as a repository for its collections and as an influential context for the Classical art of its time. 2/4

The Director of the #BritishMuseum Hartwig Fischer has issued a statement that the British Museum "stands in solidarity with the Black community throughout the world." #BlackLivesMatter." That is to be applauded. blog.britishmuseum.org/a-message-from… via @britishmuseum 1/4 However, the #BritishMuseum has never apologised for its shameful part in the British Army's brutal conquest and looting of rare Ethiopian artefacts at the Battle of Maqdala in 1868, in a clear case of officially sanctioned plunder and murder 2/4