New York Times shines light on Parthenon Marbles with front page story

The New York Times is the latest major international media outlet to spotlight apparent progress in the efforts to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, reporting that, “the British Museum and Greece’s prime minister are getting closer to a deal on returning the so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens. But key differences remain.”

The article, titled ‘After 220 Years, the Fate of the Parthenon Marbles Rests in Secret Talks’, was written by London-based Alex Marshall, who has been reporting on Parthenon sculptures since 2018. He introduced the topic by noting: “Torn in some cases from the temple walls, ostensibly with the permission of the Ottomans who then ruled Greece, the so-called Elgin Marbles were later sold to the British government and became some of the most storied artifacts in the collection of the British Museum. But they also became, almost from the very day they were removed, the subject of perhaps the world’s most notorious cultural dispute.”

He explained that, “the British say the marbles were legally acquired and are best shown alongside other artifacts in a universal museum, while the Greeks view them as looted treasures that are a foundation of their national heritage. The debate has only deepened in recent years as the actions of old empires have come under new scrutiny, and restitution battles have come to challenge the foundations of Western museums.”

Noting that there is growing pressure to return the marbles as museums “have given back high-profile items including Benin Bronzes, Italian antiquities and other fragments from the Parthenon that were relinquished just last month by the Vatican,” he adds that, “now there are hopeful signals that perhaps a resolution between the British Museum and Greece could be in sight as officials on both sides have acknowledged that secret talks have taken place.”

Marshall admits, however, that, “indeed, they remain far apart on some key questions,” after talks in London that began November, 2021 between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and George Osborne, the chairman of the British Museum.
Marshall has spoken to “two people with knowledge of the negotiations who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential talks. One of those people had knowledge of the Greek position; the other knew the British Museum’s.”

Summarizing media speculation the article notes that, “one article last month in the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, which broke news of the talks, said they were ‘90 percent’ complete, citing ‘well-placed’ Greek sources. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the parties were ‘closing in’ on a deal…. Under the discussed proposal, the Bloomberg article said, some of the monuments would return to Athens temporarily, in exchange for other ancient treasures.”

According to Marshall’s sources, however, “a deal remains much further away than those reports suggest… And, in fact, in recent days officials from both sides have spoken publicly to pump the brakes on the soaring expectations that any deal was imminent.”