Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures
Статья посвящена культурному наследию Древней Греции, в частности судьбе скульптур Парфенона. Она рассказывает о деятельности английского посла в Турции лорде Элджине и его помощника Филиппа Ханта, которые получили доступ в Парфенон в 1800, о тех варварских методах, с помощью которых была собрана ко...
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Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України
2011
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irk-123456789-557192014-02-10T03:13:52Z Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures Scheveleva, H.V. Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ Статья посвящена культурному наследию Древней Греции, в частности судьбе скульптур Парфенона. Она рассказывает о деятельности английского посла в Турции лорде Элджине и его помощника Филиппа Ханта, которые получили доступ в Парфенон в 1800, о тех варварских методах, с помощью которых была собрана коллекция лорда Элджина. 2011 Article Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures / H.V. Scheveleva // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2011. — № 210. — С. 135-137. — Бібліогр.: 12 назв. — англ. 1562-0808 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/55719 94 (38) en Культура народов Причерноморья Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України |
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Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ |
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Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ Scheveleva, H.V. Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures Культура народов Причерноморья |
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Статья посвящена культурному наследию Древней Греции, в частности судьбе скульптур Парфенона. Она рассказывает о деятельности английского посла в Турции лорде Элджине и его помощника Филиппа Ханта, которые получили доступ в Парфенон в 1800, о тех варварских методах, с помощью которых была собрана коллекция лорда Элджина. |
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Article |
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Scheveleva, H.V. |
| author_facet |
Scheveleva, H.V. |
| author_sort |
Scheveleva, H.V. |
| title |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures |
| title_short |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures |
| title_full |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures |
| title_fullStr |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures |
| title_sort |
fate of рarthenon's sculptures |
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Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України |
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2011 |
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Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ |
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http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/55719 |
| citation_txt |
Fate of Рarthenon's sculptures / H.V. Scheveleva // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2011. — № 210. — С. 135-137. — Бібліогр.: 12 назв. — англ. |
| series |
Культура народов Причерноморья |
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AT schevelevahv fateofrarthenonssculptures |
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2025-07-05T06:58:47Z |
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2025-07-05T06:58:47Z |
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1836789245698637824 |
| fulltext |
Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ
135
Scheveleva H.V. УДК 94 (38)
FATE OF PARTHENON'S SCULPTURES
СУДЬБА СКУЛЬПТУР ПАРФЕНОНА
Статья посвящена культурному наследию Древней Греции, в частности судьбе скульптур Парфенона. Она
рассказывает о деятельности английского посла в Турции лорде Элджине и его помощника Филиппа Ханта, которые
получили доступ в Парфенон в 1800, о тех варварских методах, с помощью которых была собрана коллекция лорда
Элджина.
It was the time when the Greeks were almost forgotten, when the soil they considered their own suddenly
disappeared under such an impermeable curtain as that devided modern Europe in the years of "Cold War". The
Hellins again attracted attention to themselves only with a new tide of interest to historical knowledge, although
this interest is not always useful for history or for the monuments remained.
Impassioned interest for Greece and for all Hellenic generated a certain kind of hunt for treasures. The
travellers coming here often tried to take with them any souvenirs from the classic past, though they cannot be
regarded as pioneers. The Romans that conquered Ellas in II B. C. at first considered Greek works of art as quite
legal war trophies. Numerous ships loaded with art treasures raised sails directing for Italy, where sculptors
successfully mastered technology of copying of Greek works. Now we recall Horatius: conquered Greece charmed
its brutal conqueror [6, p. 69].
The Greek idea soon dominated in Roman education as well as Greek lexics in Latin! In 395 B. C. the Roman
Empire desintegrated into 2 parts – Eastern and Western [11, p. 115]. Greece was joined to the Eastern Byzantine
part. By that time the antique culture was dying and the last blow was delivered by fast spreading of Christianity.
New religion having become official, banned worship of the Hellenic Gods.
The Greek temples were closed. Greece became deeply dormant. Ellas gradually turned into the outskirts of the
Empire. Its abandoned temples became ramshackle and destructed. Educated people in Konstantinopolis kept on
studying classic works of the antique Greeks, but in Europe the recollections of them being gradually erased. And
when at the dawn of the Renaissance people got again interested in the world of antiquity and classic art, Ellas
turned into a miserable shadow of its glorious past. Its magnificent temples and civil constructions of the past were
almost entirely devastated, its landscape looked like a desert covered with stones.
A newly cropped interest to Greece was not accounted for attention to that country as it is, but for its classic
heritage. Invention of printing ensured new possibilities for the dissemination of knowledge, and typographies
printed great works of Ellas writers of the "Golden Age".
Soon after the fall of Konstantinopolis (1453), the Osmans also seized frank lands of Continental Greece.
Athens also fell under the rule of the Turks, and in 1460 moslem rulers added a minaret to Parthenon having turned
that ancient temple of Athena Palias into a mosque [9, p. 243]. The Osman's attempts to expand newly owned lands
and oust the Venetians from the Greek islands brought these states to war incessant for the following two centuries.
The Turks overwhelmed, and the islands seized by them were also cut off from the West for 150 years. But
isolation of Greece from the West didn't influence undying interest for the classic culture. The fashion for antiquity
only enhanced: all who possessed power and money rivalled in creation of the best collections. Soon every ruler on
the European Continent pretending to have a good taste had to possess at least several classic sculptures. The
monarchs were pleased with copies when they lacked the originals [6, p. 25].
In the 17 century the relationships between the Ottoman Empire and the European states eased to a certain
extent. Some European travellers could visit Greece again. Most of them ventured these journeys exclusively in
search of works of art. In 1674 Marquis de Nointel, a French ambassador, was directed to Levant in order to
establish relationships between France and the Ottoman Empire (with artist J. Carey). Due to his official status he
got an opportunity for sightseeing of Athens and the Acropolis. The diplomat was lucky, for 13 years later the
flame of feud between the Ottoman Empire and Venice flashed out again and at the peak of hostilities a shell hit
Parthenon where the Turks stockpiled armaments [10, p. 148]. It exploded due to detonation and the sculptures of
Phidias were blown out to fractures thus having irrevocably been lost. Those sculptures remained preserved in
thoroughly made pencil drawings of Carey.
In England the further growth of interest to Greece owned to "Society of Art Lovers" founded in 1733, its
members being noble and distinguished Englishmen. They bought out antique art works in Italy and equipped
expeditions for exploration and acquisition of the items of antiquity [12, p. 129]. James Stuart, a painter, and
Nicolas Revett, an architect, spent in Athens almost 2 years (March, 17 1751 - May, 13, 1753) excavating and
studying antique constructions [7, p. 374]. "Athenian Antiquities" (4 – volume account of the work made) was
published in a restricted number, but it greatly influenced the thoughts. From the times of the Renaissance
numerous architects endeavoured to surpass their antique predecessors, but the samples serving for rivalry were the
Roman constructions for the most part. Diminished copies of Hellenic temples were erected in gardens surrounding
the mansions of the nobility, the European cities were decorated with churches and mundane public buildings with
porticos after the colonnade of Parthenon.
Ellas had to pay a high price for a new recognition. Competition between the European states that brought them
to the battlefield caused a fierce rivalry for possession of antique works of art. At first museums were founded in
every large European state to display their intricacy in the rivalry of such a kind, and a real pursuit for ancient
treasures was set up with the purpose to intercept them till they get into the collections of the rivals [8; p. 89]. The
Scheveleva H.V.
FATE OF PARTHENON'S SCULPTURES
136
Greeks themselves remained the subjects of the Ottoman Empire and were not able to counteract the proceedings,
and their ancient fell into an unlimited disposal of the French, German, English, and other Europeans thinking that
they were saving the past from oblivion.
In 1799 Thomas Bruce, Lord Elgin, was appointed ambassador to Turkey. Architect Thomas Harrison offered
him to arrange the production of prints form the sculptures and chapiters of Parthenon and they were to ship them
to England for the needs of education. This request stuck Bruce to the idea to collect the Greek antiquities.
At first Elgin tried to organize the collection and study of the antiquities on the official basis but was
encountered a flat refusal from the part of the English Premier Pitt, who was reluctant to fund such undertakings.
Then Lord Elgin on his own earnings hired a group of experts in Italy that was engaged in drawing of the
monuments and printing. The temple Parthenon was conceived as a symbol of Athens that won a victory in the
wars with the Persian Empire and founded an alliance of democratic polyses of Ellas [5, p. 329]. Nonetheless
significance in the history of arts have the sculptures of Parthenon, the creation of them being carried out under the
surveillance of the greatest sculptor of Antiquity Phidias [12, p. 123]. The statue of Athena made of ivory and gold
served as a centre of the entire complex being positioned in the deep of the temple's cella. The sculptural decoration
consisted of two pedimental compositions, 92 metopes and a frieze with the length of 160 m, comprising more then
550 figures. A considerable part of the works were executed by other workmen, but the entire composition was
saturated with Phidias's spirit of creation.
In 1800 the confidants of Lord Elgin got an access to Parthenon, the Acropolis being a Turkish fortress then,
and besides an official firman (sultan's permission) they had to bribe Turkish functionaries who directly controlled
the access of foreigners to the Acropolis. At first they were allowed to make drawings of the figures for 5 guineas
per day [2, p. 181]. It lasted this way since August 1800 till April 1801.
The expulsion of the French from Egypt had strongly enhanced the influence of the British Ambassador in
Istanbul. Elgin took advantage of this situation and wrung out a new firman from the Sultan where it was pointed
out that "nobody could interfere with the British Ambassador, his secretary and artists if they want to take some
stones with scriptures and figures on them" [6, p. 90-91]. For more then 100 years there is a heated discussion
whether that formulation from a disappeared long ago Turkish original-was a sufficient basis for further Elgin's
activities. It's only known that the Grand Turkish Visier in Athens never objected to free treatment of that clause
offered by Elgin's chaplain Phillipp Hunt, who was assigned with the whole surveillance over the works. The Visier
was consoled by fine glasses and pistols, so that he simply didn't notice as Hunt's crew shipped numerous
sculptures of Parthenon.
But Edward Doduall, an English traveller, witnessed dismantlement of architectural elements, so called
metopes and triglyphs, with the sense of "ineffable shame". "I watched several metopes from the South-Eastern part
of the temple lowered down, – he writes. – They served as locks between triglyphs, and to take them away a
splendid cornice that spanned them was brought down. The south-eastern corner of the pediment was treated the
same way" [9, p. 20].
Hunt's men took away 56 sections of friezes and about a dozen of statues from two pediments. They also
collected scattered bas-reliefs from a small temple of Athena Nike: it decorated the entrance to the Acropolis till
1687 and was dismantled to clean the place for a Turkish fort. Hunt's workers even brought down one of the six
caryatids that maintained the roof of Erechtheion (an asymmetric temple with four halls connected with each other
and situated to the north of Parthenon) and replaced them with unseemly brick support.
Sept. 16, 1802 a brig "Mentor" with a load of 17 carefully packed cases which belonged to Thomas Bruce left
the Athens' Harbour. "Mentor's" captain counted to reach the Cape Tenar and pass it by, but at noon the wind
abruptly changed its direction and became stronger. The ship stopped to wait for the end of the storm. By the night
it found itself 40 miles south-west and at dawn the rocky coasts of Antikifera Island came into vision. The situation
grew dangerous. To crown it, a leakage was found in the hold, with water level raising uninterruptedly. The sailors
failed to keep it low by constant pumping, however hard they tried [4, p. 35]. Sharp bending impeded manoeuvring,
and the ship became more and more inoperable. To save the vessel the captain tried to enter the Harbour of St.
Nicolas. Terrifying rocks at it's entrance and a poorly steered ship made these attempts extremely dangerous.
"Mentor" managed to enter the other harbour, but the wind was too heavy and to remain there was even more
dangerous than in the open sea. High seas hurled the ship onto the coastal rocks. Heaving been hit against the rocks
the vessel got stuck between them. The bent being too heavy, water washed over the deck. The crew and the
passengers moved to the shore.
The whole bow with the load were covered with water. Under the direction of Elgin several ships were
chartered and divers were employed. For 7 thousand piastres the divers agreed to raise heavy cases from the deep.
Within October they managed to pick up to the surface only six of them. Notwithstanding unfavourable weather
conditions the search never ceased, and by March 1803 the remaining eleven cases had been lifted [11, c. 83].
Lord Elgin himself reached his motherland with adventures. In 1803 he was called off his post and left for
England via France. However in May 1803 a war resumed between England and France, Lord Elgin having been
arrested in Paris. He remained in custody till 1806 [1, p. 65]. The part of the freight brought out from Greece was
found, the other part having been sequestered by the French in the Italian ports, the third – by the Turks in Athens.
Later lord Elgin succeeded in gathering the collection and delivering it to London.
Thomas Bruce arranged a public exhibition of the sculptures brought to Park Lane and even hired a
professional boxer to pose by the antique monuments: the Lord was of the opinion that "nothing substantiates the
masterpiece of a sculptor as an athlete alive doing exercises on the background of the works similar in
composition". It cannot be said that all visitors accepted the exhibition unconditionally favourably. One of the
Вопросы духовной культуры – КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ
137
critics an influential member of the "Society of Art Lovers" had been increasingly critical of the statues and
dismissed them as ordinary Roman copies. "Dear Lord Elgin, – he wrote. – You tried all in vain and overestimated
your marble. It's not that of Greek. The works are of the Roman period" [6, p. 30].
But the artists, however were, far more impressed. Antonio Kanova, a well-known Italian sculptor, invited by
the Lord to restore the damaged sculptures, unexpectedly denied the Lord's proposition considering it as a sacrilege
even to touch these magnificent works of art. Artist Gydon said that he saw by his own eyes "the conjunction of the
Nature and the Ideal". One of the famous French archaeologists d'Capsy noted "I have seen nothing more alive of
that kind than that horse head. It's not a statue any more: this muzzle is neighing, the marble is living, you think it is
moving". Gjite, having seen only the pictures of these sculptures, felt himself happy that he had lived up to that day
[7, p. 43]. There is a particular opinion of English painter B. R. Hadon, a friend of poet John Kitts: "I have been
drawing these figures for ten, for ten and fifteen hours running, often up till midnight having a candle in one hand
and working with the other, wrote Hadon in his diary – Oh, it was a wonderful time. I was seized by the feeling of
magnitude, delight, and unexpressible purity of the designs! I got up at the break of the day and opened my eyes
with the only desire: to make sure of the inspiration that possessed me all over; I jumped out of my bed as if
possessed and spent the morning, the day and the night as if in a wonderful dream, in a state of ineffable inspiration
[6, p. 21].
Many adepts of antiquity were deeply indignant by those barbarian methods of Lord Elgin when gathering the
collection. There was a saying circulating at that time: "That was not made by the Goths was made by the Scots" [4,
p. 32].
Later Lord Byron, who left for Greece in 1820-s with hundreds of other Europeans in order to take part in a
successful 8-years war of Ellas for independence, stigmatized Lord Elgin as a miserable thief and subjected him to
slashing criticism for the latter "dared to rob that bleeding land of its last values". Byron condemned the former
British Ambassador comparing him with a leader of Westgoths Alarich, the conqueror of Rome, but a barbarian
won his trophies in fighting at least.
Worried with criticism of that kind the English Government, as Elgin suggested, would come out in its capacity
of a buyer of those invaluable marble masterpieces, at first refused to obtain them at the price declared [10, p. 244].
The negotiations between the Government and Bruce concerning the sale of the collection dragged on long. Its
success was stipulated by the rumours, that the Director of the Paris Museum, who arrived to England to watch
Elgin's marbles, made him an offer to sell the sculptures to Louvre. The issue concerning the acquisition of the
collection was debated in the House of Commons with a special committee set up. The Committee examined the
ways of foundation of this collection and its value. A matter of price was not decided in favour of the owner: the
Committee voiced its opinion that the sum of 35 000 pounds would be quite sufficient (175 000 dollars) [6, p. 154].
Taking into account the interests on credits and road expenditures all this cost to Lord Elgin 72 000 pounds [6, p.
155]. On the 7-th of June, 1815 the debates resumed in the House of Commons. After a heated argument the offer
of the Committee was confirmed with 82 ballots pro and 30 ballots con [11, p. 95]. The British Museum in London
obtained that collection where it has been held till nowadays in spite of the Greeks' demands to return their national
property. The English insist that to return the statues means to create a precedent with such an outcome that all
museums in the world would be devastated. This matter remains undecided yet.
After the liberation of Athens of the Turks, protection, restoration and preservation of the historical monuments
became a task of top priority of a newly formed state.
Sources and literature:
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1987. – 275 с.
2. Блаватский В. Д. Греческая скульптура / В. Д. Блаватский. – М., Л. : Искусство, 1939. – 215 с.
3. Боннар А. Греческая цивилизация / А. Боннар. – М. : Искусство, 1992. – Т. 3. – 334 с.
4. Брунов Н. И. Памятники Афинского акрополя : Парфенон и Эрехтейон / Н. И. Брунов. – М. : Искусство,
1973. – 174 с.
5. Геродот. История : в 9-ти кн. / Геродот. – Л. : Наука, 1972. – 560 с.
6. Греция : Храмы, надгробия и сокровища. – М. : ТЕРРА, 1997. – 168 с.
7. Дюрант В. Жизнь Греции / В. Дюрант. – М. : Крон-Пресс, 1997. – 704 с.
8. Колобова К. М. Древний город Афины и его памятники / К. М. Колобова. – Л. : Изд-во ЛГУ, 1961. – 373
с.
9. Куманецкий К. История культуры древней Греции и Рима / К. Куманецкий. – М. : Высш. шк., 1990. –
351 с.
10. Латышев В. В. Очерк греческих древностей / В. В. Латышев. – СПб. : Але-Тейя, 1997. – Т. 2. – 320 с.
11. Очерки по истории мировой культуры. – М. : Языки русск. культуры, 1997. – 496 с.
12. Павсаний. Описание Эллады / Павсаний. – М. : Искусство, 1938. – Т. 1. – 364 с.
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