Elgin Marbles expected to return to Greece

George Osborne, chairman of the British Museum and former Tory chancellor, is understood to have drawn up an agreement with Athens as part of a “cultural exchange”.

The move has come 200 years after the Earl of Elgin “appropriated” the treasured artefacts from the Parthenon in Athens.

It comes after the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) reversed a policy that allows the repatriation of items from its 12-million strong collection – leading to hopes the British Museum would follow suit.

Since 1866 the institution, based in Edinburgh, had stuck to a presumption against returning objects held in its collection.

It is now adopting a procedure for considering “requests for the permanent transfer of collection objects to non-UK claimants”.

Now it has emeged that the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum in Athens are closing in on an agreement that would see the  2,500-year-old artefacts looted during the imperial era. returned over time to Greece as part of a cultural exchange, ending a feud over the historical artifacts that dates back to the 1800s.

An agreement would see a proportion of the marbles sent to Athens on rotation over several years. In exchange, other objects would effectively be loaned to the museum in London, and Britain could also get plaster copies of the Parthenon sculptures.

A British Museum spokesman said: “We’ve said publicly we’re actively seeking a new Parthenon partnership with our friends in Greece and, as we enter a new year, constructive discussions are ongoing.”

The Greek government has frequently demanded the return of the marbles, but the British Museum has previously claimed among other reasons that it has saved the marbles from certain damage and deterioration and has not acceded.

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens, which is adjacent to the ancient site and completed in 2008 devotes a large space to the Parthenon, and the pieces removed by Elgin are represented by veiled plaster casts.

The development comes after the government rejected Tory peer Lord Vaizey of Didcot’s call for a law change to make it easier for UK museums to deal with restitution requests.

While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office has ruled out changing a law that prohibits museums from removing items they hold, a loan or rotation arrangement based on a cultural exchange may provide a way through that legal hurdle.

Mr Vaizey, chair of the Parthenon Project, which is working with the British and Acropolis Museums to find a solution, said an outcome is “finally within reach.”

“We have argued for a deal that is beneficial to both Greece and Britain, centred on a cultural partnership between the two countries,” a spokesperson for the project said. “This would see the British Museum continue in its role as a ‘museum of the world’ displaying magnificent Greek artifacts as part of rotating exhibits, with the Parthenon Sculptures reunited in their rightful home in Athens.”

The amended NMS policy states: “NMS’s collections reflect its diverse history and multidisciplinary nature, spanning the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences.

“Each of the five collections departments contains some objects that originate from outside of the United Kingdom.

“In exceptional circumstances, NMS will consider a request made by claimants located outside the UK to transfer a specific object or group of objects where the request meets certain criteria.”

An  agreement would resolve a dispute that’s plagued Anglo-Greek relations since the foundation of modern Greece in 1832, and which even threatened at one point to add another layer to the UK’s already-complicated Brexit negotiations with the European Union.

The objects including sculptured marble, including columns, pediments and 17 figures were removed from the Parthenon at Athens and from other ancient buildings and shipped to England by arrangement of Scots nobleman Thomas Bruce, 7th Lord Elgin, who was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

By 1803 all of these were boxed awaiting shipment bound for Broomhall House, the family seat of the Earls of Elgin, three miles south-west of Dunfermline.

Most of the marbles got back to Britain safely courtesy of the Royal Navy. Lord Elgin was less fortunate as he was captured by the French and held prisoner until 1806.

With much of the project financed by his wealthy Scottish heiress wife, Mary Nisbet, the final shipment of the Elgin Marbles reached London in 1812, and in 1816 the entire collection was acquired from Elgin by the crown for the sum of £35,000, about half of Elgin’s costs.

The removal created a storm of controversy that exemplified questions about the ownership of cultural artifacts and the return of antiquities to their places of origin.

In 2004, Andrew Douglas Alexander Thomas Bruce, the 11th Earl of Elgin and Chief of the Clan Bruce, when asked to comment on the belief that the treasures are stolen property, replied, “Totally unfair and completely untrue,” before proceeding to explain that everyone in Britain “should be proud of what was done,” by his ancestor.

The 7th Earl had the express consent of the Ottoman Empire to remove the marbles, he said. It was an act of conservation, without parallel at the time.

A Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokesman said: “The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum are legally owned by the Trustees of the British Museum, which is operationally independent of government. Decisions relating to the care and management of its collections are a matter for the trustees.”

Last month, the museum said in a statement it had “publicly called for a new Parthenon Partnership with Greece” and would “talk to anyone, including the Greek government about how to take that forward”.

It added: “We operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle our great collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity.

“But we are seeking new positive, long term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that of course includes Greece.”