Jonathan Jones, 'The Parthenon marbles are the world's most beautiful art – and that's why we should give them back' Guardian Monday 18 August 2014
"The way the Elgin Marbles debate has turned art into an ideological plaything is a terrible distraction from looking at the bloody things".
The sad truth is that in the British Museum, the Parthenon sculptures are not experienced at their best. For one thing, they're shown in a grey, neoclassical hall whose stone walls don't contrast enough with these stone artworks – it is a deathly space that mutes the greatest Greek art instead of illuminating it. So if the British Museum wants to keep these masterpieces it needs to find the money to totally redisplay them in a modern way. Or, it could give them to Greece, which has already built a superb modern museum to do just that.
Where do the Parthenon sculptures really belong? To get to the just, right, sensible answer I have to start from my opening claim: this is the world's most beautiful art. It has only a handful of rivals in the highest rank of artistic achievement – think Leonardo da Vinci, think Michelangelo.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot agree with the eurocentric view born in admiration of all that is Greek,even though Greek art comes from a great tradition. But what has the beauty of the Parthenon Marbles got to do with the obligation for Britain to return them to Greece? Even if the Parthenon Marbles were ugly,the Greeks would still have the right to reclaim what is undoubtedly theirs. I am glad that Jonathan Jones shares the view that Britain has to return the sculptures but he should not get us involved in the argument whether they are beautiful or the most beautiful sculptures in the world. Kwame Opoku.