In 'The Parthenon Marbles and International Law,' published today 25 May 2023 by Springer, international legal scholar Catharine Titi moves beyond the ethical and cultural merits of repatriation to consider the legal arguments that favour the marbles’ return.

The author casts fresh light on the facts of the case and argues that the removal of the marbles was unlawful according to the law at the time. This was readily admitted in 1811 by Robert Adair, former British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and by Elgin himself in a letter to Spencer Perceval, the prime minister.

The author argues that property title to the marbles never passed and that the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice further supports the repatriation claim: in international law, parts of public monuments belong to the sovereign territory in perpetuity.

While showing that the legal argument favours the marbles’ repatriation, the author stresses the value of negotiations as the best way forward. She hopes that this book will serve to inform debates on the repatriation of cultural heritage and provide arguments both to Greek negotiators and the British intellectuals and politicians who have spoken out in favour of returning the marbles to Athens.

The Parthenon Marbles and International Law, written by Catharine Titi, with a Foreword by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Springer 2023

More on the new book on the publisher’s website.

Also availabe on Amazon.

“This is a book that must be read with attention by all parties to this debate; and it is my hope and belief that it will accelerate the process by which an art-loving and philhellenic Britain finds a consensual way to return to its ancient ally a collection of broken and decontextualised fragments which illuminate a moment two and a half millennia ago when the city that pioneered democracy created a monument of transcendent beauty which embodied the values that inspire us still.” (Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Emeritus Professor and Director of Research, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge)

“Catharine Titi, a brilliant Greek academic lawyer based in Paris, has written a superb, entirely fresh account of the seemingly interminable ‘Elgin Marbles’ controversy. Cutting through the swathes of ideological obfuscation, she patiently and incontrovertibly demonstrates just how shaky in international law is the UK’s case not alone for retention but even for the original possession let alone ownership of the Sculptures held in the British Museum.” (Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, University of Cambridge)

Andrew Wallace-Hadrrill is a members of BCRPM, and Paul Cartledge is Vice-Chair of BCRPM. 

The Acropolis Museum takes part in the “Green Cultural Routes”, on Saturday 27 and on Sunday 28 May 2023.

The pan-hellenic cultural activity entitled “Green Cultural Routes” is organised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, with two extra gallery talks for Acropolis Museum visitors: “Walking in the ancient neighbourhood of the Acropolis Museum”.

Visitors will have the opportunity to walk through the archaeological excavation with the Museum’s archaeologists, and enjoy a magical stroll through time, history and the daily life of the people who lived by the shadow of the Acropolis’ rock for over 4,500 years.

The talks are in both Greek and in English, and will last one hour and are available free of charge. To participate, an electronic booking is required: events.theacropolismuseum.gr

The event is one of a host of activities being organised throughout Greece between 25-28 May, with free admission, for the "Greek Cultural Routes" activities, designed at educating the public on the protection of the country's cultural heritage and natural environment, as well as promoting sustainable growth.

The Antiquities Coalition welcomes statements from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) committing to new policies and practices on ancient art and artifacts, including a recognition from Director Max Hollein that “Whatever unlawfully entered our collection, should not be in our collection.”

The pledges mark a reversal from the Met’s earlier stance, which largely resisted calls to probe looted and stolen pieces within the institution’s walls. The Antiquities Coalition has been at the forefront of these requests, urging the museum to take “strong, concrete, and immediate action” in response to recent scandals, joining such varied voices as law enforcement, investigative journalists, activists, and even comedians like John Oliver.

The Met’s plan, announced on 09 May in The New York Times, includes hiring a provenance research team of four experts to audit its holdings, as well as forming a committee of 18 curators, conservators, and others to review all legal and ethical guidelines.

The museum would also work to “convene thought leaders, advocates and opinion makers” in the field.

These efforts align with specific recommendations outlined by the Antiquities Coalition, such as launching a task force, building capacity in provenance research, strengthening best practices, and using the institution’s platform both to raise awareness of the problem and to find solutions. Once implemented, these steps could set a new global standard, given the Met’s position as the largest and most visited art museum in the Western hemisphere.

To read the full article, follow the link here.

A total of 351 objects and 25 groups of artefacts are to be repatriated to Greece after a 17-year battle. The announcement was made by Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni on Friday, 19 May. 

Robin Symes, a British antiquities dealer, had amassed thousands of pieces as part of a network of illegal traders.

Statues, figurines, sculptures, vases, jewelry, utensils and accessories dating back to Neolithic, early Byzantine times, once part of the Robin Symes collection are to be returned.

The Greek Ministry of Antiquities added that the repatriation of these antiquities was the result of the constant pursuit of all political leaders of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage. A methodical effort was carried out by many services of the Ministry of Culture, and especially the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Properties, the National Archaeological Museum and the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. The head of the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Properties, Vasiliki Papageorgiou, and the relevant department head, Elena Vlachogianni.

Many archaeologists of the YPPOA made significant contributions to various phases of the documentation supplied in relation to these objects. Amongst the archaelogists, Eleni Papazoglou-Manioudaki and Katerina Voutsa, participated in the working groups set up by the YPPOA to handle the case. Elena Korka and Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, as well as Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, participated as experts and as members of the working groups.

A noteworthy contribution was made by the Greek Police and the Judicial Authorities. Decisive for this successful outcome  was the cooperation of the Ministry of the Interior with the Legal Council of the State. The legal follow-up of the case was undertaken by Artemis Papathanasiou, Legal Advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who also contributed significantly to the promotion of the case through the Embassy of Greece in London.

Martin Bailey wrote in The Art Newspaper on Wednesday, 10 May 2023, revealing declassified UK government documents showed the Foreign Office had been dismissive of the British Museum’s lobbying to retain the Parthenon Marbles in 1983. The year when a formal claim was first lodged, after Greece's then Greek culture minister, Melina Mercouri visited London and the British Museum. 

'The Foreign Office recorded that Mercouri argued that the Marbles “are an integral part of a monument that represents the national spirit of Greece”. Wilson responded that they are part of a museum which is a unique international institution that “should not be dismembered”. But the officials concluded that Mercouri “won the argument hands down”.'

Fast forward four decades, and the argument for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles is as compeling today as it has been since the 19th century, and the first request made by Greece after gaining independence. 

Janet Suzman, BCRPM's Chair often speaks of what Melina was like when she first met her in London. "Melina was electric, she swept through Britain in the 80's and captured the hearts and minds of all those that understood the injustice of the removal of these sculptures, their sale to the government by Lord Elgin in 1816, plus their continued display in the British Museum as art pieces, not as a collection of peerless sculptures that will always be intrinsically connected to the Parthenon. A building, which after two and half millennia of history, wars and occupations, still stands proud on the Sacred Hill.

"We could be informed how exactly these stone figures came to be here in this cold gallery in London" suggests Janet Suzman. "Since no proof from the Ottoman Sultanate has yet been found permitting them to be taken from Greece, we could, at the very least, be told that fact. Otherwise we must assume the British Museum has a very tenuous hold on reality when it claims they were legitimately acquired."

"The BCRPM wants to see visitors to the British Museum enlightened, either by a leaflet made available in the Greek galleries, or cogent signage on the plinths themselves, with full information about their acquisition."

"The modern Hellenic Republic, free of the yoke of the Ottomans, desperately wants its cultural heritage - these perticular Parthenon scuptures - returned. For over two hundred years it has wanted them returned. The public deserves to know why; Lord Elgin chopped them off the Parthenon and stole them, silently and clandestinely, and they ought to be back in their own place, where the sun shines." Concludes Janet Suzman.

'In the name of fairness and morality' said Melina in 1986 'please give them back. Such a gesture from Great Britain would ever honour your name'.