The deal proposed to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece would be the first of its kind, with the Mediterranean country’s ancient treasures used as “collateral” to secure a final compromise.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/0… Such a deal might be the first of its kind - but the concept is not entirely new.
In 2008, I met with a well known Greek owner of a budget airline (and at that time a cruise line).
From his discussions with people on both sides, he believed he had a plan that would work.

A predictable switch from claiming it's a matter for the #BritishMuseum trustees - to wading right into the issue:
The #ParthenonMarbles "belong here in the UK" & should not be returned to #Greece, Michele Donelan the UK culture secretary has insisted.
bbc.co.uk/news/entertain… I say predictable - because past actions of this government have indicated that they would be against return of the #ParthenonMarbles - deferring to the British Museum Trustees was always a cheap get-out to avoid answering the question they'd been asked.

This enforcement of imperialism mixed with xenophobia is an utterly ridiculously piece even by the standards of The Spectator.
spectator.co.uk/article/the-el… Why are they so anti-Hellenic?
Let's not forget that this is the publication whose Greek columnist happily endorsed Golden Dawn in more than one (now deleted from their website) article.

This sculpted figure once adorned the west pediment of the "Old Temple" of Athena Polias, and depicted the momentous Gigantomachy.

https://twitter.com/tzoumio/status/1611298885288316932

The Old Temple of Athena or the Archaios Neos was an archaic Greek limestone Doric temple on the Acropolis of Athens probably built in the second half of the sixth-century BCE, and which housed the xoanon of Athena Polias.

Was intrigued by this image of the Parthenon from 1808 by Frédéric Boissonnas. At first I thought it couldn't be the Parthenon as everyone knows there are no archways there. François-Frédéric Boissonnas, AKA Fred Boissonnas, was a Swiss photographer from Geneva. His work is considered crucial for the development of photography in Greece, He constitutes a central figure in the transition to a more contemporary approach to photography of antiquities.

Kore (From Greek: κόρη meaning maiden) is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age. Kouroi are the male equivalent.

https://twitter.com/tzoumio/status/1575384557402079232

Korai (the plural of Kore) show the restrained "archaic smile", which did not demonstrate emotion. They are depicted in thick and sometimes elaborate drapery. Their posture is rigid and column-like, sometimes (like this instance) with an extended arm.
brown.edu/Departments/Jo…

Interestingly, the British Museum are unclear what this is - they suggest either a phalera (sculpted disc worn on breast plate of soldiers in parades) or a bowl.
It was excavated from a tomb in 1906.
Presumably it ended up in the British Museum under the terms of the excavation.

https://twitter.com/tzoumio/status/1575383270459588609

Link to BM record.
britishmuseum.org/collection/obj…

It is 335 years to the day since an explosion ripped apart the Parthenon on the evening of September 26 1687.
Drawing by Mannolis Korres). As part of the Morean War (also known as the 6th Ottoman Venetian War), Venetian forces has landed on the Peloponnese (then known as Morea).
Venetian commanders under Francesco Morosini (pictured) decided to expand their campaign, with Athens as the first target.

Doric columns on the Parthenon in the late afternoon sun.

A short thread on Greek architecture. There are three ancient Greek architectural orders, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.
The Parthenon is very much of the Doric order, but at the same time is seem as the high point of this order - and manages to merge in parts of the ionic order making it something of a hybrid.

Museums & galleries in England & Wales will be given unprecedented powers to dispose of objects in their collections if there is a compelling moral obligation to do so, under a provision of the Charities Act 2022, expected to come into force this autumn.
theguardian.com/culture/2022/s… This could mark a momentous change for the sector - although it is not clear to me at this stage whether the Charities Act 2022 could override a conflicting provision in say the British Museum Act 1963.

In Classical Athens, to decide whether to exile a certain member of society, citizens cast their vote by writing the name of the person on a shard of pottery; the vote was counted and, if unfavorable, the person was exiled for 10 years from the city.
Hence the term ostracism.

https://twitter.com/tzoumio/status/1573948171377672194

Themistocles (524–459 BC) was an Athenian politician & general, one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians rising prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. He was a populist, with support of lower-class Athenians, & often at odds with Athenian nobility.

The entry point to the Acropolis through the Propylaeum controls your first view of the Parthenon.
Everyone's first view of the Parthenon (up close) is this one. This was how it was designed to be seen.
#Parthenon #Acropolis #Athens #Greece #parthenonmarbles #greekarchitecture The positioning of the buildings on the Acropolis may be less haphazard, than it first appears.
The three primary buildings (Propylaeum, Parthenon & Erechtheion) are arranged based on a system of rays giving an optimum view of the façade of the Parthenon.

The Propylaeum forms a grand monumental gateway onto the Acropolis. Because it funnels people through a relatively narrow route, it almost always feels like the most crowded part of the site.
#propylaeum #Acropolis #parthenon #Athens #Greece There are other Propylaea, but the one on the Athenian Acropolis is seen as the prototypical example of such monumental gateways.
The Greek Revival Brandenburg Gate of Berlin (below) & the Propylaea in Munich were both designed to evoke the middle portion of the Athens propylaea.

Built in 420BC, the Tetrastyle (4 columned) Ionic Temple of Athena Nike, jointly dedicated to these two goddesses is one of the most prominent as you ascend the Athenian Acropolis.
#athenanike #Acropolis #Athens #Greece #ionicarchitecture #greekarchitecture To people visiting the Acropolis today, it may come as a surprise to discover that this temple's position is not as permanent as it now appears.
It has in fact disappeared and reappeared multiple times in recent history.

Descendants of people captured & sold into slavery by the Benin Kingdom raised objections to the return of artefacts to the heirs of those who enslaved their forbears. They want the bronzes to remain in Western museums where they're accessible to all.
wp.me/pdepR4-1gi That was a twist to the story that I wasn't expecting TBH...

Some of the old images of Athens posted recently make it look like a tiny village.
This one reveals though that most modern development was on the other side of the Acropolis.
#greece #architecture t.co/hVL5GfvC76 The Frankish Tower (which I posted about a few weeks ago)still dominates the profile of the Acropolis far more than the Parthenon at this time.
Lovers of the fact it was removed should be grateful it happened when it did. It's unlikely it's demolition would be permitted today.