A parliament 'inquiry' in 1816 deemed what Elgin did was legal, thats why they bought them. I wonder if this is why we are refusing?
If you ever go in the Vatican museum it's chockablock with artefacts, treasures, jewels etc stolen from Egypt and the Holy land..
I don't know. Are they Jeff? . I'll be honest I'll have to read up on this before I post owt constructive mate. I don't mind history so it should be an interesting read. All I know about Venetians is they came from Venus on a Russian probe and started making blinds.
And while we are at it, all the common land which was stolen from the ordinary people of this country should be given back by the robber barons and slave lords who used their ill-gotten gains to take it and then had the audacity to make it illegal for us to "trespass" on.
Argument has been going on since they were brought here. They would been completely ruined had they been left there, but they should go back to an appropriate situation..
This is what a lot of people argue. Every single power, regardless of stature, has done things the British empire did, just less 'successfully', right down to the Native Americans who butchered, raped, pillaged, stole from other native american tribes. It's an issue, unfortunately, what will last for a long time. In my opinion we should give the marbles back. I think it's where they belong.
Goodness no. There's a problem with older exhibits from before there was a clear moral and legal framework for accession (putting things into museum collections.) These days if there's any hint of murky dealing most museums would not even dare. There's even things like panels where new items get discussed and potential conflicts can be identified and explored. Unfortunately, stuff like the Parthernon marbles was nicked or looted at the peak of colonialism when Britain 'ruled the waves' and they felt untouchable. Like we had the unassailable right to take other people's history as they wouldn't appreciate it but the British public would.
The thing is that much of what was taken in the late 18th early 19th centuries WAS underappreciated. The Ottomans were not really bothered about ancient Greek antiquities to the point of using the Parthenon as an ammunition depot, the great Egyptian antiquities were largely buried in the sand, not to the point where they were hidden, just derelict and abandoned. There were Westen europeans who WERE interested in and valued the classical period. They took antiquities for their own pleasure without doubt and not for the enlightenment of the greater British public etc but it's fairly certain that if they hadn't a great many of those antiquities would not survive today. That being said, a great many of those items should now be returned. It does annoy me that people leap at the opportunity to bash our colonial past on this without looking at the whole thing in a wider context.
I'm a historian specialising in the Golden Age British Economy and Democracy, I have definitely looked into it. British colonialism is rightly being scrutinised and people should criticise the actions of the people who swanned around the globe taking 'antiquities' for their pleasure because in their eyes other cultures didn't sufficiently value their past. Nostalgia and preservation of the past is the luxury of a politically stable and wealthy nation. Some thing many of these places were not. I also worked in the museum industry for ~10years. I think my opinion is a reasonably well sourced one
