Coup: Sicily returns the so-called Palermo Fragment, the only Parthenon marble found in Italy, to Greece. The work may remain in Athens forever. Does Italy lead the way in unblocking the situation of the marbles kept at the British Museum?
A twist in the Parthenon marbles affair: the Sicilian Region has in fact given the go-ahead for the return to Greece of the Palermo Fragment, also known as the Fagan Fragment, the fragment of the slab belonging to the Parthenon’s eastern frieze depicting the foot of Artemis (Goddess of Hunting) seated on a throne, and which is preserved at the “Antonino Salinas” Archaeological Museum in the Sicilian capital.
It is a valuable archaeological find that came, at the beginning of the 19th century, into the hands of the English consul Robert Fagan under circumstances that are not entirely clear, after which, upon his death, it was bequeathed to his wife, who subsequently sold it between 1818 and 1820 to the Royal Museum of the University of Palermo, of which the “Antonino Salinas” Regional Archaeological Museum is the heir. Since last January 10, the fragment is already at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, where in a ceremony, attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, it was reunited with the original frieze from which it had been removed. It was initially planned that the fragment would remain on loan to Greece for eight years, and Greece in turn would reciprocate with a headless statue of Athena from the fifth century B.C.E. and a geometric amphora from the first half of the eighth century B.C.E., works intended to remain in Sicily four years each. The agreement, which was sealed in February in the Sicilian capital in the presence of the Minister of the Republic of Greece, Lina Mendoni, and the Undersecretary for Culture, Lucia Borgonzoni, also provides for the organization of exhibitions and other joint initiatives that will be carried out in collaboration between Sicily and Greece on topics of cultural interest of international scope.
But let us come to the restitution of the fragment: the government of the Sicilian Region, by a resolution of the Council, gave its consent to the so-called “sdemanializzazione” of the property, that is, the technical act that was necessary for the final restitution of the fragment, after having cashed in the preceding weeks the go-ahead of the Attorney General’s Office of the State to the procedure of “sdemanializzazione” (release from state ownership) by Sicily for the purpose of restitution to Greece and the okay of the Ministry of Culture on the competence of the Sicilian Region to proceed in this sense. All that is awaited now is the final “clearance” of the Mic, which at this point could arrive very quickly. Sicily is thus leading the way for the return to Greece of the Parthenon frieze finds, making its own decisive contribution to the debate that has been going on for some time at the international level: part of the marbles, as is well known, are kept at the British Museum in London and the affair is at the center of a long duel between London and Athens. The Palermo decision now could be a game changer.
The process that led to the return of the Palermo marble had started from the Sicilian Region itself, which, at the suggestion of the Regional Councillor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Alberto Samonà, had forwarded the request to the “Committee for the Recovery and Restitution of Cultural Heritage” established at the same Ministry. An act strongly desired by Councillor Samonà himself, together with Sicilian Regional President Nello Musumeci, and shared with the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.
The return of the fragment to Athens was made possible precisely on the basis of the aforementioned agreement, born out of the fruitful interlocution between the Sicilian government with Councillor Samonà and the government of Athens with Minister Mendoni, signed in February by the Regional Archaeological Museum “A. Salinas” of Palermo, directed by Caterina Greco, and the Acropolis Museum of Athens, directed by Nikolaos Stampolidis, pursuant to Article 67 of our Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, which provides for the multi-year transfer and exchange of archaeological finds between the two museum institutions.
🇮🇹🤝🇬🇷
*μια φάτσα μια ράτσα*
will italy give back all the greek antiquities looted by the roman emperors?
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Coup: Sicily returns the so-called Palermo Fragment, the only Parthenon marble found in Italy, to Greece. The work may remain in Athens forever. Does Italy lead the way in unblocking the situation of the marbles kept at the British Museum?
A twist in the Parthenon marbles affair: the Sicilian Region has in fact given the go-ahead for the return to Greece of the Palermo Fragment, also known as the Fagan Fragment, the fragment of the slab belonging to the Parthenon’s eastern frieze depicting the foot of Artemis (Goddess of Hunting) seated on a throne, and which is preserved at the “Antonino Salinas” Archaeological Museum in the Sicilian capital.
It is a valuable archaeological find that came, at the beginning of the 19th century, into the hands of the English consul Robert Fagan under circumstances that are not entirely clear, after which, upon his death, it was bequeathed to his wife, who subsequently sold it between 1818 and 1820 to the Royal Museum of the University of Palermo, of which the “Antonino Salinas” Regional Archaeological Museum is the heir. Since last January 10, the fragment is already at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, where in a ceremony, attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, it was reunited with the original frieze from which it had been removed. It was initially planned that the fragment would remain on loan to Greece for eight years, and Greece in turn would reciprocate with a headless statue of Athena from the fifth century B.C.E. and a geometric amphora from the first half of the eighth century B.C.E., works intended to remain in Sicily four years each. The agreement, which was sealed in February in the Sicilian capital in the presence of the Minister of the Republic of Greece, Lina Mendoni, and the Undersecretary for Culture, Lucia Borgonzoni, also provides for the organization of exhibitions and other joint initiatives that will be carried out in collaboration between Sicily and Greece on topics of cultural interest of international scope.
But let us come to the restitution of the fragment: the government of the Sicilian Region, by a resolution of the Council, gave its consent to the so-called “sdemanializzazione” of the property, that is, the technical act that was necessary for the final restitution of the fragment, after having cashed in the preceding weeks the go-ahead of the Attorney General’s Office of the State to the procedure of “sdemanializzazione” (release from state ownership) by Sicily for the purpose of restitution to Greece and the okay of the Ministry of Culture on the competence of the Sicilian Region to proceed in this sense. All that is awaited now is the final “clearance” of the Mic, which at this point could arrive very quickly. Sicily is thus leading the way for the return to Greece of the Parthenon frieze finds, making its own decisive contribution to the debate that has been going on for some time at the international level: part of the marbles, as is well known, are kept at the British Museum in London and the affair is at the center of a long duel between London and Athens. The Palermo decision now could be a game changer.
The process that led to the return of the Palermo marble had started from the Sicilian Region itself, which, at the suggestion of the Regional Councillor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Alberto Samonà, had forwarded the request to the “Committee for the Recovery and Restitution of Cultural Heritage” established at the same Ministry. An act strongly desired by Councillor Samonà himself, together with Sicilian Regional President Nello Musumeci, and shared with the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.
The return of the fragment to Athens was made possible precisely on the basis of the aforementioned agreement, born out of the fruitful interlocution between the Sicilian government with Councillor Samonà and the government of Athens with Minister Mendoni, signed in February by the Regional Archaeological Museum “A. Salinas” of Palermo, directed by Caterina Greco, and the Acropolis Museum of Athens, directed by Nikolaos Stampolidis, pursuant to Article 67 of our Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, which provides for the multi-year transfer and exchange of archaeological finds between the two museum institutions.
🇮🇹🤝🇬🇷
*μια φάτσα μια ράτσα*
will italy give back all the greek antiquities looted by the roman emperors?