Explained: The Parthenon Marbles that the Vatican has returned to Greece

Three elaborately carved artworks, which were once on display in the Vatican Museums, have been officially returned to Greece.

The decision to return the 2,500-year-old marble was announced by Pope Francis last year, according to BBC.

“This act by Pope Francis is of historical significance and has a positive impact on multiple levels. My personal wish is that others will imitate it,” Greece’s spiritual leader, Archbishop Ieronymos II, told the crowded gallery of the Acropolis Museum where the works will be displayed.

According to Fortune, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni on Friday led a ceremony for the repatriation of three sculpture fragments.

“The ceremony today… similar to the gesture by the government of Sicily and the Republic of Italy a few months ago, shows the road that we could follow, that everyone could follow, in order for the unity of the Parthenon to be restored,” Mendoni said.

The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos, shook hands with dignitaries as the marbles were returned and grinned for the cameras.

“My personal heartfelt wish is that this initiative is mimicked by others. Pope Francis showed that this is possible and significant,” he said.

Let’s take a closer look at the sculptures.

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What are the Parthenon sculptures?

According to the British Museum’s official website, the artefacts from the Vatican feature the heads of a bearded man, a horse, and a boy.

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It says the Parthenon sculptures are a collection of several marble architectural ornaments from Athens’ Parthenon, the goddess Athena’s temple atop the Acropolis.

They were created between 447 BC and 432 BC, and they include a frieze that depicts the Panathenaic festival procession (which celebrates the goddess Athena’s birthday), a series of metopes (sculpted relief panels) showing the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the Peirithoos marriage-feast, and god and legendary hero figures from the temple pediments.

Parthenon has a complicated history as it served as a mosque, a chapel, and a temple before becoming an archaeological site.

According to the website, over the course of its long history, it has undergone severe damage, most notably as a result of an explosion that occurred in 1687 while it was being used as an ammunition store, leaving the Parthenon in ruins.

Around 50 per cent of the Parthenon’s original architectural ornamentation is now gone after being demolished over many years in both the ancient and modern worlds.

Hence, it is difficult to entirely recreate the monument or join it with its sculptural decorations.

The sculptures that are still in Greece were housed among other treasures at a brand-new museum that opened in Athens in 2009 called the Acropolis Museum.

This museum offers an in-depth look at the ancient history of the Acropolis and the nearby religious sanctuaries and civic structures.

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Where are the artefacts from?

Greece’s Athens is where the Parthenon sculptures are from, as per The British Museum website.

The Parthenon was built in the fifth century BC to symbolise the might and authority of the Athens city-state at the time.

As Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832, it became a symbol of the contemporary nation-state.

Most of the post-Roman structures on the Acropolis were destroyed in 1834 when Athens was chosen as the new nation’s capital in order to make room for additional archaeological digs and restore the area to its idealised “Classical” past.

How did they end up in Britain?

According to BBC, at the direction of Scottish nobleman Thomas Bruce, also known as Lord Elgin, several marbles were removed from Greece’s Parthenon in the early 1800s.

The British government displayed the marble in the British Museum after purchasing them from him.

According to reports, George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum, and Greece may soon reach an agreement.

The statues “belong here” in Britain, according to Michele Donelan, who served as the UK’s culture secretary at the time.

The law forbids the British Museum from ever sending the artworks back to Greece.

But from the start of the 20th century, Greece has been attempting to retrieve them from the Vatican and other European museums.

Although it was speculated that the British Museum was holding private negotiations with Greece in an effort to find “a win-win solution,” hopes of reconcilation disappeared when Britain prime minister Rishi Sunak last week denied any notion that the treasures would eventually be restored to Athens.

Pope Francis stated last year that the 2,500-year-old marble will be returned.

Greece anticipates that this action will encourage other foreign institutions that possess Parthenon sculptures to do the same.

With inputs from agencies

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