Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins has reignited the debate over the Parthenon Marbles, building on an op-ed by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that drew a comparison to the Bayeux Tapestry’s recent loan to Britain.
Mr. Jenkins questioned why the British Museum continues to hold the Parthenon Marbles if it’s considered self-evident that the Bayeux Tapestry can be returned to France, despite the tapestry possibly having been made in England.
He highlighted Mr. Mitsotakis’s argument that both works “were designed as unified wholes, meant to be perceived and understood as such” — a point Mr. Jenkins said strengthens the case for reuniting the Parthenon sculptures in Athens.
Criticizing past British Museum leadership, Mr. Jenkins recalled Culture Minister Melina Mercouri’s clash with then-museum director Sir David Wilson in the 1980s, when she traveled to London demanding the sculptures’ return and famously told television cameras: “I want my Marbles back.”
Mr. Jenkins pointed to polling showing a majority of Britons favor returning the sculptures to Greece, describing the Parthenon and its sculptural decoration as one of the foundational works of Western civilization. His conclusion was blunt: the dispute has dragged on far too long, and the solution is clear — end the standoff and send the Marbles back to Greece.
The intervention follows Mr. Mitsotakis’s Sept. 24 Guardian op-ed rejecting British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan’s suggestion that the Bayeux loan could serve as a template for the Marbles, and comes amid reports that formal talks between Athens and the museum have stalled.
