Highlights: Greece keeps up pressure on British Museum to return Parthenon statues. In comments to the Guardian, Lina Mendoni, the Greek Minister of Culture, says her country would be ready to "fill the void" left by the statues. The British Museum, which bought the statues in the 14th century before the birth of modern Greece, claims to own them. For its part, Athens is pleading for their return to their original monument in the name of cultural coherence. "If I told you to cut the Mona Lisa in half... do you think visitors would appreciate the beauty of the painting as much?"

In comments to the Guardian, Lina Mendoni, the Greek Minister of Culture, says that her country would be ready to "fill the void" left by the Parthenon statues on display at the British Museum...

Greece keeps up pressure on British Museum to return Parthenon statues

In comments to the Guardian, Lina Mendoni, Greece's culture minister, said her country would be ready to "fill the void" left by the Parthenon statues on display at the British Museum in London if they were returned to Athens, as Greece has been demanding for decades. The proposal comes at a time when relations between the two capitals have recently become tense over the sculptures.

People look at examples of Parthenon sculptures, sometimes referred to as the "Elgin Marbles" in the U.K., on display at the British Museum in London, Nov. 29, 2023. © HANNAH MCKAY/REUTERS

By: RFI Follow

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With our correspondent in Athens, Joël Bronner

The return to Athens of the marbles of the Parthenon temple, the country's cultural and tourist showcase: Greece makes it a question of national identity. If the negotiations do not progress, the country is keen to maintain a certain pressure in the media space by offering to the British Museum in London to recover them, by lending other antique works in return as part of temporary exhibitions.

Basically, the British Museum, which bought the statues in the 14th century before the birth of modern Greece, claims to own them. For its part, Athens is pleading for their return to their original monument in the name of cultural coherence.

Read alsoParthenon Fries: Greece's Ruined Hopes

London on the defensive

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek Prime Minister, already said in November on the BBC that the issue was not for him "one of ownership" but rather that of "the reunification of works". "If I told you to cut the Mona Lisa in half and display one half of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and the other half in the British Museum, do you think visitors would appreciate the beauty of the painting as much? In a way, that's exactly what happened in the case of the Parthenon," he said.

These remarks angered British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the point of causing him to cancel a meeting with his Greek counterpart. The question of the return to Athens of the Parthenon sculptures, which is almost as old as modern Greece, still does not seem to be close to an epilogue.

Read alsoThe Vatican returns fragments of Parthenon sculptures to Greece

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Greece
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Heritage
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Greece keeps up pressure on British Museum to return Parthenon statues

Greece keeps up pressure on British Museum to return Parthenon statues

London on the defensive

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