Acropolis Director Urges Louvre: Return Your Parthenon Marbles

The General Director of the Acropolis Museum, Nikolaos Stampolidis, combined a message of solidarity with a clear call for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, following the recent heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

“I want to wish our French friends and the Louvre Museum well in their efforts to recover the stolen relics. At the same time, however, the Louvre must realize that it owes it to the Acropolis Museum to return the Sculptures that are in its collection,” Stampolidis stated during a television interview on ERT on Wednesday morning.

The head of the Acropolis Museum made his comments just days after news of the major theft at the Louvre, which has caused intense concern within the international museum community. His statement simultaneously brings the long-standing issue of the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, and all Greek antiquities in foreign museums back to the forefront.

The Louvre’s Parthenon Marbles and their acquisition

The Louvre currently holds a small number of Parthenon Marbles, specifically a block of the East Frieze and one Metope (South Metope 10).

These pieces were acquired by the French diplomat and collector Count de Choiseul-Gouffier in the late 18th century. Unlike the larger collection removed by Lord Elgin, these pieces were mainly loose fragments found in the rubble around the Parthenon. After Choiseul-Gouffier’s death, the Louvre purchased the Metope in 1818.

Critique of the British Museum Gala

In the same interview, Stampolidis addressed the controversy surrounding the recent gala held by the British Museum in the gallery where the Parthenon Marbles are exhibited.

He clarified that “the issue is not whether events should or should not be held in museums.” He emphasised that what is particularly important is “the way in which such events are carried out. Greek culture has always been a culture of reason and dialogue, not of dogmatism.”

Regarding the resulting uproar, Stampolidis explained: “In this particular case, those who wish to become dinner guests of the gods should not, in my opinion, place an ill-conceived or well-conceived table—depending on how one sees it—directly beneath the feet of the pediments, or place their glasses there, as I saw in the images. It is insulting not only to the works themselves and the museum, but also to those participating.”

A call for a “noble gesture”

Finally, Stampolidis offered a piece of advice to those of economic and intellectual stature, stating that they “should expend their efforts on noble issues, such as the return and reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.”

He stressed that the sculptures must be reunited with the body to which they belong, noting: “Every work has its dynamic precisely where the power it emits was born. The Parthenon is not just for Greeks. It is for all humanity.”

Stampolidis called “once again for both the British Museum and the British people, who are largely in favor of the return and reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, to be able to make this noble gesture and for all of us to reunite the monument, a symbol of democracy and aesthetics.”