The British Museum chairman, George Osborne, has mooted the possible return of the Parthenon (or Elgin) marbles to Greece. This is thoroughly good news. He is not the first to suggest a “marbles deal”, but he is the first to suggest that “seeing them in their splendour in Athens” is a virtue to be sought. More importantly, he seems to accept that this has passed on from the past history of their acquisition and the dry legal issue of ownership. Rather, it concerns the context in which we best display these glories of European civilisation.
One thing is clear. Having half the marbles under the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens and the other half in a frigid Bloomsbury chamber is wrong. It is not sharing a work of art; it is splitting one. This cavalcade of masterpieces should be properly shown together, and that means at the site of their creation, in Athens. Loaned, swapped, sold or whatever, they should go back to Greece. It is understandable that the Greeks have never ceased begging for their return.
