“Pope Francis returned three fragments of the Parthenon to Greece last month kept in the Vatican Museums for about 100 years. It is time for Britain to follow the example of the Argentine pontiff. Next year, when Greece celebrates the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy, this seems like the perfect opportunity,” said Rachel Sanderson, an Australian politician, in a Bloomberg op-ed. Sculptures of the Parthenon.

As he says, the movement of the prelate of the Roman Catholic Church emphasized according to many, the sculptures dating from the 5th century BC should be returned to Greece.

She quotes Andrea Rurale, director of the arts management program at Bocconi University in Milan, as saying that “it helped that Francis had the right to make this unilateral decision.which allowed him to get around the objections of dissidents in the Vatican Museums.”

“On the contrary, British ownership of the Parthenon marbles, known as Elginia since Lord Elgin oversaw their removal in 1801, is based on endless anxiety and diverging views from countless stakeholders,” she says, recalling that the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ruled out the return of the sculptors on the basis of a 1963 British law prohibiting the disposal of museum items.

“Therefore, the only way to overcome this legal hurdle would be to lend marble through a rotation scheme based on cultural exchange,” says Sanderson.

The author’s article mentions Project Parthenonnon-profit seeking to reunite the Parthenon sculptures is calling on the Greek government and British museum officials to “agree to disagreement” over ownership of the Parthenon sculptures, proposing a “cultural cooperation agreement” to reunite the Parthenon Sculpture in Greece and provide the British Museum with popular Greek works art for periodic exhibitions.

But the British Museum, whose disputed collection includes a Rosetta Column, preserved Maori heads from New Zealand and about 200 bronzes from Benin, pointed out that such a “cultural exchange” could not work for Greece either. would recognize British property. Athens claims that the removal of the marble was an act of looting by Lord Elgin prior to the establishment of the modern Greek state,” Sanderson notes.

In addition, he recalls that the UK government rejected the recommendation of UNESCO in 2021 to resume negotiations with Greece.

“However, there is an opportunity here, and the Pope is in the lead. Greece will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy on July 24, 2024. To commemorate this day, Britain must consider the free offering of sculptors to the people of Greece. An Act of Parliament would be necessary, but King Charles III, who often speaks of his closeness to Greece as the birthplace of his father Philip, could be a suitable envoy,” suggests Sanderson, a former member of the South Australian House of Representatives. .

“These discussions represent a huge change given that so far such a return would be unthinkable. Most tax authorities and government agencies have argued that the art is world heritage and is best exhibited in major international museums. But the return of works of art stolen by the Nazis marked global overviewsays Sanderson, referring to Laurence de Carré, director of the Louvre, who “is among the first generation of officials willing to ‘return works if they are lost’.”

“In the Vatican Museums, the return of the Parthenon marbles is treated as an isolated event, unrelated to its treasury of works of art. And for Britain, this would be an opportunity to develop friendship with Greece and, accordingly, begin to iron out differences with Europe. If then Greece decides to send works of art as part of an exchange to the British Museum, then everything is in order, ”she concludes.

^{Source: Bloomberg.}