Greece snubs George Osborne over Elgin Marbles ‘legal trap’

GREECE would reject an Elgin Marbles “deal” with the British Museum as it could present a legal trap.

George Osborne, the museum’s chairman, has suggested there is a “deal to be done” to share the sculptures between London and Athens, in a loan that would end the stalemate in the enduring row over their future.

Any deal between the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum — the likely recipient of any loaned statues — would require the Greek side to recognise that the 2,500-year-old sculptures are owned by the British Museum, jeopardising any future claim for their repatriation as “stolen” objects.

It is understood that this would be a red line for Greek ministers who have always maintained Lord Elgin stole the Marbles from the Acropolis in the early 19th century, and that Greece is the true legal owner. Nothing less than full repatriation would be acceptable to Greece, which will continue to push for their return.

Mr Osborne said last week that both sides needed to drop “preconditions” and “red lines” to reach a “sensible” agreement.

But the suggestion has been seen as a ploy by those campaigning for the return of the sculptures which once adorned the Parthenon, with Cambridge classicist Prof Paul Cartledge, of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, accusing Mr Osborne of “misdirection and disinformation”.

Marlen Taffarello Godwin, a fellow committee member, stated: “If Mr Osborne is genuinely hoping to open talks to broker a deal, ‘without any red lines’, then that should include the question of the British Museum’s ownership.”

The Marbles will remain in Room 18 of the museum, an institution which has controlled the 5th-century BC sculptures since 1816, when they were bought from Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin.

Lord Elgin had taken scores of pieces from the Acropolis between 1801 and 1812, when Athens was under Ottoman rule, with the British Museum maintaining that he legally acquired the pieces from the local governor at the time. The artworks adorned the temple of Athena. on the Acropolis.

‘If Mr Osborne hopes to open talks on a deal ... that should include the question of British Museum ownership’