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The location of the Parthenon Marbles in London does not surprise me. From what we have studies, with how old certain pieces of art are, the land that they exist on change hands quite a bit. Taking a look at the Ishtar Gates for example, this was originally in Babylon, ended up in Germany. The final placement of art seems to relate to the history of its location. A museum such as the Louvre would not be as grand as it is if art did not get taken from their original locations. This was seen with near eastern art as well, such as the Stele of NaramSin which was stolen and defaced in time. In this case, the Turks, did not seem to value the history behind the Pantheon, using it for military purposes, and easily gave the marbles to Thomas Bruce.
I do not like the idea of taking a piece of art out of its original context. These pieces were taken to study in an artificial environment. Yes this did allow many students to view and draw the marble sculptures, but besides their physical characteristics, what do the students get out of it? They do get to admire different pieces up close which would not normally be at eye level. There is always a context to a piece of work and this is missing when they are taken out of the original location. The Elgin marbles were used to tell a story, many pierces to a great structure. I also do not like the fact that the reason for the moving of the marbles is because Lord Elgin wanted to decorate his house. We are talking about priceless statues which were a part of a larger temple. They are not stand alone pierces that should be used for decoration. Is the cost of being able to look at the marbles up close worth losing the background and purpose of the pieces? I do not think so, the historical context and purpose of the statues needs to be a part of the story.
Although I do not see it ever happening, I do believe that the Pantheon marbles should return to Athens. The problem is ownership, the Turks who occupied the land did indeed give them to the British and the Greeks will have a hard time getting around this. In a perfect world, I would like them to be returned to the location of the Pantheon in Athens to be a part of a larger historical site. Although I do not think it is possible for them to return to their original location apart of the Pantheon, at least being at the sight will allow them to present some historical context, and relate them to the actual structure they were a part of. I think it would be really beneficial to apart of this exhibit, create images of how they would have looked in their original format. This way, they would be in the correct location, and visitors would be able to get a better sense of how Greek art really was, and witness the story the art tells rather than the individual separated figures.
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ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. You've brought up a good point about how these statues are not "stand alone" works of art. They are supposed to be seen in a completely different context and in relation to other sculptural pieces.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the physical context of the works of art (in relation to the Parthenon and its orientation) is also important. For example, the sculptures in the east pediment originally depicted "The Birth of Athena" (see reconstruction HERE). We can see that the chariot of the sun god (with his horses) originally were rising on the left side of the pediment triangle (symbolic of the birth and "rise" of Athena), while the horses of moon goddess' chariot are sinking down on the left side. Think of how this imagery would have much more meaning and significance on the east side of a building, which is illuminated each day with the rising sun. This added symbolism and context is lost when the marbles are taken from their physical (and original) context. The British Museum doesn't illuminate the statues with a "rising sun" each morning in the gallery space!
-Prof. Bowen
I really liked how you compared Lord Elgin taking the Parthenon Marbles to other instances of works of art taken out of their original location. I also do agree that works of art taken from their location loses their significance, Individual figures in a group artwork don't tell as much of a story as the whole piece.
ReplyDeleteStudying lighting design as a possible career choice, the colors of light created at different times of the day do play a role in the representation of art. I think of the fact that the artist would have arisen early each day to craft when the light was just over the horizon would have been neat to see. Even without the original position of the pieces, seeing the pieces in similar light in the present would be very neat.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mention other works of art being removed from their original location at the beginning, and I agree with you when you say you do not like that statues were meant to be decorations in Lord Elgin's house, because that's not right. However, I think the marbles cannot be returned to Greece, because of their current condition, even with technological advances, moving the marbles would be way to risky.
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