1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class the production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: As we mentioned in our recent Unearthed, over the last 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: several months, there's been a lot of discussion around the 6 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: Parthenon sculptures, which are also known as the Elgin Marbles. 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: These are classical Greek sculptures that the seventh Earl of 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: Elgin arranged to have removed from Greece, particularly from the 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: Parthenon and other monuments at the Acropolis and Athens, and 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: that started in eighteen oh one. And this controversy surrounding 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: these sculptures is really not new, like there's been a 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: lot about it in the last few months, but it 13 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: goes all the way back to the early nineteenth century, 14 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: even before these sculptures were placed in the British Museum, 15 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: which happened in eighteen seventeen. Greece has been actively trying 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: to get them back since the start of the Greek 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: Revolution in Britain has consistently refused to return them, and 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: there's been more vocal demand for the sculptures return at 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: various points over the last two hundred years, including now, 20 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: so this is not something that people just started talking about. 21 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: And this is also tied to much broader conversations about 22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: things like the role of museums and the preservation of 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: cultural heritage and respect for indigenous and colonized people. So 24 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: it's really a bigger topic than we can really do 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: justice too in periodic updates on on Earth about where 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: the conversation is at the moment. It's also a bigger 27 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: topic than we can cover in just one episode. I 28 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: was telling Holly before we started recording that it even 29 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: could have been more than two, but we're going to 30 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: cover it as two parts. Today we will have some 31 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: background about Lord Elgin and his initial removal of these 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: sculptures and architectural elements, and the next time we will 33 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: be talking about how things progressed from there up into 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: the debates about uh this artwork in architectural material today. 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and eleven of Kincarden, 36 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: was born on July seventeen sixty six. As a young man, 37 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: he was considered to be quite promising. In seventeen ninety, 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty four, he started serving in 39 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative peer. He 40 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: embarked on his first diplomatic assignment at the age of 41 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: twenty five, and he served in the British Army, reaching 42 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: the rank of lieutenant colonel by the age of twenty nine. 43 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: He was also chronically ill and in his early thirties. 44 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: His doctor recommended that he try warm sea bathing, so 45 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: he started looking for some kind of position where he 46 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: would be stationed somewhere and what he thought would be 47 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: a more hospitable climate for his health. That opportunity wound 48 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: up coming straight from the King George the Third. At 49 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: a ball, the King pulled Elgin aside and mentioned that 50 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: he had decided to appoint an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. 51 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: That person would be stationed in Constantinople, which is Istanbul, 52 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,679 Speaker 1: Turkey today. The King recommended that Elgin apply for this position. 53 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: Britain already had some other diplomatic staff in Constantinople, but 54 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: this ambassador post was new. Britain and the Ottoman Empire 55 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: had each been fighting against France in the French Revolutionary Wars. 56 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: The British Army and Navy had been assisting Ottoman forces 57 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: and Britain wanted a formal treaty of alliance between the 58 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: two nations. Britain also wanted to negotiate various trading arrangements 59 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: with the Ottoman Empire, including gaining access to trade through 60 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: the Black Seeds, so having a full ambassador stationed in 61 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: the Ottoman capital made a lot of logical sense. In 62 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: sevent when he was thirty three, Elgin was appointed to 63 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: be the Minister Plany Potentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary of his 64 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: Britannic Majesty to the Sublime port of Sultan Selim the Third. 65 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: He put off his departure for several months so that 66 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: he could marry twenty one year old married Nisbit, and 67 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: so he could hire the staff that would accompany and 68 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: work with him in Constantinople. As he was preparing for 69 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: this assignment, Elgin also proposed another project for his time 70 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: in Constantinople. The idea started with architect Thomas Harrison, who 71 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: was designing a home for Elgin. Harrison suggested that Elgin's 72 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: position in Constantinople might give him an opportunity to expand 73 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: British knowledge of classical Greek art and architecture. So students 74 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 1: in Britain already had access to things like written descriptions 75 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: and engravings showing these kinds of sculptures and historic buildings 76 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: and monuments, but it was possible that Elgin could use 77 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: his position to gather more detailed information. He could get 78 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: permission from Ottoman authorities to send artists and mold makers 79 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: to these monuments and other sites, and they could make 80 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: more detailed diagrams and illustrations, and also make plaster casts 81 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: of the artwork and the architectural elements. At this point, though, 82 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: this proposed project didn't involve really removing anything, at least 83 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: not anything major, and Elgin was an art lover and 84 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: he was incredibly excited by this idea. He went back 85 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: to the government to try to get funding for it, 86 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: making a case for how much it would enrich Britain's 87 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: own artistic and architectural traditions. The government, though, declined to 88 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,799 Speaker 1: fund this project, but it did pay for a search 89 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: for previously unknown manuscripts in Ottoman libraries, and that actually 90 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: had some overlap with what Elgin was trying to do, 91 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: and a lot of the permissions for the search came 92 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: through Elgan's work and influence. But that manuscript search is 93 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: also its own whole story beyond the sculpture story that 94 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: we were talking about in these episodes. Yeah, I felt 95 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: like it would be an oversight to not mention that 96 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: it was also going on, but it's beyond the scope 97 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: of what we're really getting into. When the government decided 98 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: not to pay for this project, Elegan decided that he 99 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: would fund it himself. And it was also customary at 100 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: this point for ambassadors to pay for their staff's salaries themselves, 101 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: rather than those staff members being positions that were paid 102 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 1: also by the government, So this was adding up to 103 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: be a really expensive position for Elgin. Even though his 104 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: own salary also turned out to be less than he 105 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: expected when he took the job, he thought that he 106 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: could manage, especially since at some point he would be 107 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: coming into his wife's family fortune, which was significant. He 108 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: also genuinely thought that documenting all this classical Greek art 109 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: and architecture was really important, and he thought it would 110 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: be worth the expense. When Ellian finally departed on his 111 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: sea voyage to Constantinople, he and his retinue made several 112 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: stops along the way, and some of them were because 113 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: his wife Mary was pregnant with their first child, and 114 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: she was very, very seasick. But they also stopped in 115 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: Naples and Rome with the hope of recruiting draftsman, architects, painters, 116 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 1: mold makers, and other artists and artisans to help with 117 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: their project of documenting classical art and architecture in Greece. 118 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: This is a recruitment effort, though turned out to be 119 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: something of a challenge. France had invaded Italy during the 120 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: French Revolutionary Wars, and France had seized a lot of 121 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,119 Speaker 1: Italy's most famous artwork to take back to the Louver. 122 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: The Louver Museum had opened in seventeen nine three after 123 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,559 Speaker 1: being a royal palace for more than two hundred years, 124 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: and France during the French Revolutionary Wars had just aggressively 125 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: looted artwork from the nations that had invaded, and then 126 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: it was using that artwork to expand the Louver's collection. 127 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: After invading Italy, France had recruited Italian artists to help 128 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: prepare and transport all this artwork back to Paris. On 129 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: top of the general labor shortage this created for Elgin, 130 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: many of Italy's artistic community had sided with France and 131 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: that meant that Elgin had concerns about the loyalty of 132 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: anyone that they recruited. Although Elgin was ultimately able to 133 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: hire people with the skills that he needed, he wound 134 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: up having to spend a lot more than he had 135 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: budgeted to do it. Leading the team was Giovanni Battista Lucieri, 136 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: a landscape painter from Naples. Elgin and his retinue arrived 137 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: in Constantinople and May at eighteen eighty he dispatched Lucieri 138 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: and this team of artists and artisans to Athens, and 139 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: they arrived there that August. We will get to what 140 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: happened after they arrived after a quick sponsor break. By 141 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: the time Lord Elgin and his staff arrived in Constantinople 142 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: in May of eighteen eighty, several of the concrete objectives 143 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: that had led to the creation of this whole ambassador 144 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: posting had already been accomplished by some other people. For example, 145 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: a formal treaty of alliance between Britain and the Ottoman 146 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: Empire had already been negotiated, but it wasn't ratified yet, 147 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: and British trade was already being allowed through the Black Sea. 148 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: In fact, some of the diplomatic personnel already in Constantinople 149 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: were surprised and frustrated by Elgin's appointment. This included British 150 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: Navy officer Sir Sidney Smith and his brother John Spencer Smith, 151 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: who had been acting as ministers. They thought the arrival 152 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: of a new ambassador undermined their ability to finish the 153 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: negotiations they had already started, and raised questions among Ottoman authorities. 154 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: In terms of Elgin's work as ambassador, it seems to 155 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: have become somewhat more general, protecting British interests in an 156 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: overall sense, protecting Christians and British citizens in Ottoman territory, 157 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: and ratifying and formalizing those agreements that other people had 158 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: drafted before him. Meanwhile, Giovanni Batista Lucierian team arrived in Athens. 159 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: They started trying to get access to the Acropolis. Today, 160 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: the Acropolis is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site 161 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: because of all the monuments there and the history of 162 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: the site, and the words of UNESCO from its description 163 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: of the Acropolis is outstanding universal value. Quote. On this 164 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: hill were born democracy, philosophy, theater, freedom of expression and speech, 165 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: which provide to this day the intellectual and spiritual foundation 166 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: for the contemporary world and its values. But in the 167 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: nineteenth century the acropolis looked much different from the way 168 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: it does today. Most of the city of Athens was 169 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: in its immediate vicinity. The acropolis itself was being used 170 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: as a village and garrison, with houses and other structures 171 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: built in and around the complex of monuments. In some cases, 172 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: parts of those monuments had been used as building materials 173 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: for these new structures. So for a little bit about 174 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: these monuments that Lucieri and the team were there to document. 175 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: They included the Parthenon, the Erectheon, the Propylia, and the 176 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: Temple of Athena Nike. These were built in the fifth 177 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: century b c. In the period known as the Athenian 178 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: Golden Age. This was after the city state of Athens 179 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: established itself as a democracy following war with Persia. Athenian 180 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: statesman Pericles embarked on an ambitious plan to create just 181 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: a massive monument complex on top of the acropolis. This 182 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: work involved multiple architects and sculptors, with sculptor Piteous being 183 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: described as the art director for this whole project. Phideous 184 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: in his assistants also created most of the statuary that 185 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: adorned the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a Doric temple dedicated 186 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: to the goddess Athena Parthenos. Built between four forty seven 187 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: and four thirty two b C. It's a rectangular structure 188 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: with a colonnade and extensive sculpture adorning its roof line. 189 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 1: It's both an artistic and an architectural marvel, and at 190 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: the time of its construction was the largest and most 191 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: elaborate temple in mainland Greece. The Parthenon surviving sculptures are 192 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: no longer on the structure itself. Originally, the walls of 193 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: the Parthenon's inner chamber or the cella or adorned with 194 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: a freeze, or a band of horizontally oriented relief sculptures 195 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,079 Speaker 1: that ran all the way around the upper perimeter. The 196 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: freeze tells the story of a festival honoring the goddess Athena. 197 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: Then the exterior colonnades roof line had a series of 198 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,839 Speaker 1: ninety two high relief carvings in the spaces called metapes, 199 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: and then the pediment or the triangular space on the 200 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,960 Speaker 1: east and the west sides, where the peak of the 201 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: roof happened. That area contained statues as well, and initially 202 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: the Parthenon also contained a massive ivory and gold statue 203 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: of the goddess Athena, which at the time was also 204 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: the largest statue in Athens. The Parthenon survived fairly well 205 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 1: for about eight hundred years after its construction. The Athena 206 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: Parthenos statue was removed at some point and later lost, 207 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,839 Speaker 1: although there are ancient copies of it that have survived. 208 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: The Parthenon itself was damaged by fire in the third 209 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: century CE, and later it was converted into a Christian church, 210 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: and at that time some of its traditional Greek religious 211 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: elements were intentionally damaged. Then, after the Ottoman Empire conquered Greece, 212 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: it converted the Parthenon into a mosque. That conversion happened 213 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: sometime in the fifteenth century, and at some point after 214 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: that the Empire started using it as a military fortification 215 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,839 Speaker 1: as well. In sixteen eight seven, when Venice and the 216 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire were at war, the Parthenon was being used 217 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,719 Speaker 1: as a powder magazine among other purposes, and the gunpowder 218 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: being stored there exploded when the building was attacked that 219 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: killed at least three hundred people and caused significant damage 220 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: to the structure. There were also stories about Ottoman forces 221 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: and local Greeks destroying the acropolis monuments to make use 222 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,199 Speaker 1: of their component parts, either pounding the marble into mortar 223 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: or pulling sculptures down to get to the lead that 224 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: was used to connect them to the building. If that 225 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: was true, those practices were probably ended by the eighteenth century, 226 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: because at that point it had become extremely common for 227 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: foreign visitors to Athens to try to buy pieces of 228 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: classical sculpture and other antiquities. These were typically visitors from 229 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: Western Europe who made offers to Ottoman authorities for everything 230 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: from whole statues to broken off fragments, and for the 231 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: most part, Ottoman authorities were fine with this. They were 232 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: really invested in trying to protect the area's historical or 233 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: cultural heritage, and they realized that there was money to 234 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: be made here, even on things like broken off corners 235 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: of marble columns. In testimony that he gave before Parliament 236 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: later on, Elgin described the situation this way, quote, every 237 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: traveler coming added to the general defacement of the statuary 238 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: in his reach. There are now in London pieces broken 239 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: off within our day, and the Turks have been continually 240 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: defacing the heads, and in some instances they have actually 241 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: acknowledged to me that they have pounded down the statues 242 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: to convert them into mortar. It was upon these suggestions, 243 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: and with these feelings, that I proceeded to remove as 244 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: much of the sculpture as I conveniently could. It was 245 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: no part of my original plan to bring away anything 246 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: but my models. So in some cases, these Western European 247 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: efforts to acquire Greek antiquities went so far as to 248 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: have official or semi official attempts to secure them on 249 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: behalf of various governments. For example, the Comte Deschozoi Gauffier 250 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: was the French ambassador to the Ottoman port at the 251 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: end of the eighteenth century, and he specifically instructed an 252 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: antiquary who toured Greece with him to quote pillage anything 253 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: that is pillageable in Athens or its territory. He also 254 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: embarked on a similar cast making project to what Elgin 255 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: had proposed and we talked about earlier, and he hoped 256 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: to secure the freezes and other carvings from the Parthenon 257 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: as well. Ottoman authorities refused that request. But did allow 258 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: him to take some pieces that had been dug up 259 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: after having previously fallen or been knocked off the Parthenon. 260 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: Like Elgin, Choizoe, Gaufier was motivated at least in part 261 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: by the idea that this was a rescue mission. They 262 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: sincerely thought that unless they removed these sculptures and other 263 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: artwork from Athens, that these antiquities would be lost forever. 264 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: And really this was not an unreasonable fear. Pieces and 265 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: fragments stolen from Greece or bought from Ottoman authorities wound 266 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: up in people's private collections. In a lot of cases 267 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: they were just never seen again. There were also ongoing 268 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: threats of destruction by Vandal's warfare, volcanic and seismic activity. 269 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: The list really went on and on. By the start 270 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: of the nineteenth century, as much as fort of the 271 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: sculptures at the Acropolis had already been removed or destroyed 272 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: or otherwise irreparably damaged. So people like Elegan, Schwizoa, Gaufier 273 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: and others really sincerely thought that if they did not 274 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: do something to protect these works, that those works would 275 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: be lost. While Schwizo Guffier had been talking about plundering 276 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: anything that was plunderable. Elgin, at least at first, was 277 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: focused on documentation and not removal, and we're gonna get 278 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: to how that shifted after we first paused for a 279 00:16:49,520 --> 00:17:00,480 Speaker 1: little sponsor break. Although Giovanni Batista Lucy Arey and his 280 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: team got to Athens in August of eighteen eighty, it 281 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: was February of eighteen o one before they got access 282 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: to the Parthenon for the first time. The acropolis was 283 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: still being used for military purposes and it was under 284 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: the control of a military governor known as the Disdar, 285 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 1: so it wasn't a place that people could just show 286 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 1: up and tour without some kind of approval. Also, since 287 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: the freezes metapes and other elements they wanted to document. 288 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: We're up at the Parthenon's roofline. Elgin's artists couldn't just 289 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: walk in and set up easels on the ground. They 290 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: had to build scaffolding to get them up to where 291 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,919 Speaker 1: the art was, especially when it came to making molds 292 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: of these sculptures. And they also wanted to be able 293 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: to dig at the site to find the boundaries of 294 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: parts of the structure that were no longer standing, and 295 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: to look for statuary that had previously fallen or been 296 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: knocked down. Lucy Area's team ultimately got access to the 297 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: site by paying local Ottoman authorities, typically the dISTAR, but 298 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: after they got their scaffolding in place, they were barred 299 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: from the site. Authorities had apparently become concerned about a 300 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: French force that was gathering in striking distance of Athens, 301 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: and they decided to bar all foreign visitors to the 302 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: acropolis for the sake of security. Luciery and his team 303 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: were told that they would only be admitted again if 304 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: they got formal instructions from the government. These instructions would 305 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: be in a form that was known as a furman. 306 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: The team continued working in other parts of Athens while 307 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: this ferman was being negotiated, and they did get sporadic 308 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: access to the Parthenon from time to time while it 309 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: was in the works. A firman was finally issued in 310 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 1: May of eighteen o one, but it was routed from 311 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: Constantinople to Athens through Ottoman government channels and it was 312 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: apparently delayed along the way. In July, the team made 313 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: another request for a firman, this time by way of 314 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: a memo that was written by the Reverend Philip Hunt. 315 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: Hunt was an Anglican priest and the chaplain to the 316 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,960 Speaker 1: British embassy in Constantinople. He had been to Athens and 317 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: had seen firsthand what Luciery and the team were trying 318 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,399 Speaker 1: to do, and he had witnessed the resistance they were 319 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: encountering from authorities. Hunt drafted a memo that detailed exactly 320 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: what permissions he thought needed to be granted for the 321 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: team to successfully complete their project of documenting all of 322 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 1: this artwork and architecture. Hunts memo outlined that they wanted 323 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: permission to enter the citadel, where they would draw, make 324 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: plaster models, erect scaffolding, and dig to find the positions 325 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: of old foundations. He also said that they should have 326 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: the quote liberty to take away any sculptures or inscriptions 327 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 1: which do not interfere with the works or walls of 328 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: the citadel. That last sentence seems to have had two objectives. One, 329 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: it would give Lucy Area's team the authority to remove statues, fragments, 330 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: or other objects that weren't connected to the walls of 331 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: the Parthenon anymore so things that had already broken off, 332 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 1: or fallen or been knocked down two, it would assuage 333 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: the Ottoman authorities fears that the British team's work was 334 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: going to weaken the integrity of the parts of the 335 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: Parthenon that we're still standing. So the idea of being 336 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: if they were getting in there and they were taking 337 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: things that were central to the integrity of the structure, 338 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: it would weaken it. That would have the potential to 339 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: put the structure itself at the military personnel working in 340 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: there at risk, especially if this French attack actually happened. 341 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: So this idea of things that quote do not interfere 342 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: with the works or walls of the citadel would prevent 343 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: that from happening. Right, They weren't asking for permission to 344 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: take away things that were still attached. The only surviving 345 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: copy of the Ferman that followed Hunt's memo is an 346 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: Italian translation, So the way this likely played out was 347 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,959 Speaker 1: that Hunt's memo was translated into Turkish, and then the Furman, 348 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: written in Turkish, was translated into Italian, which was the 349 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: official language in much of the Mediterranean at the time. Normally, 350 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 1: the Furman would have come from the Grand Vizir, but 351 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: he was in Egypt with the Ottoman army trying to 352 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: repel a French invasion, so the Ferman was issued by 353 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: an acting deputy instead. This fermin mostly restay it Hunt's 354 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: memo point by point. It turned it from a list 355 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: of permissions that should be requested into a document that 356 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: granted those permissions, but it omitted that last statement about 357 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: quote interfering with the works or walls of the citadel. 358 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: Rather than sending the Ferman through formal channels, Elgin named 359 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: Hunt a temporary personal secretary, so it would be within 360 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: his role to carry instructions to Athens himself and act 361 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: as Elegan's representative once he got there. Elgan's other secretaries 362 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: were tied up with other assignments at the time, which 363 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,119 Speaker 1: is why this job fell to Hunt. Elgin also got 364 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: approval from the Ottoman deputy to bypass formal channels to 365 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: make Hunt the Ferman's career in Athens. Hunt delivered the 366 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: Ferman to the Voivode, who was the governor of Athens 367 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 1: and the dis stars superior. According to British accounts, the 368 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: Voivode was appalled at the treatment that Lucierries team had 369 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: said they were experiencing at the Acropolis. Both their lack 370 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: of access to the Parthenon and the reportedly being her 371 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: a asked by the Ottoman military when they were there, 372 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: and they're being made to pay a fee every day 373 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: that they entered the structure. Various questions still surround this fermin. 374 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: One is whether the surviving Italian translation is even genuine. 375 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: Elgin was able to produce it fifteen years later when 376 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: Parliament was investigating how he had obtained the Parthenon marbles 377 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: and whether Britain should purchase them from him, and that 378 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: has led skeptics to question whether this is the original 379 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: or not. Academics in Turkey have also questioned whether the 380 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: document in question was actually a ferman which was a 381 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: binding order, saying that it might have been intended as 382 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: a general correspondence from authorities in Constantinople to authorities and Athens, 383 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,119 Speaker 1: rather than being something more formal. People have also raised 384 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: questions about the voivodes apparent eagerness to work with the 385 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: British team after getting this document. As this was going on, 386 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,879 Speaker 1: Britain was supporting the Ottoman Empire and its campaign against 387 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: the French invasion of Egypt. Brittain had also us promised 388 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: its support and helping to defend the Greece itself against 389 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,680 Speaker 1: the threat of a French invasion. In other words, it's 390 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: possible that the Voivode was worried about offending the ambassador 391 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: of an important military ally, and that led him to 392 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: be particularly cooperative once he got this communication. It's also 393 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 1: clear that there was some degree of persuasion involved on 394 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: the British team's part. When a Parliamentary select Committee question 395 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: hunt about all of this years later, he made it 396 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: clear that he induced, that's his word, the Voivode to 397 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: interpret the Firman as granting permission to remove artwork from 398 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: the parthen On walls. He also talked openly of giving 399 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: the Voivote and other officials gems, money, armaments, and other 400 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: gifts throughout his work. According to one traveler's diary, Lucieri's 401 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: team also had to pay a few hundred piastres in 402 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 1: the vicinity of like fifty five euros today for each 403 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,679 Speaker 1: statue that they removed. And it's also unclear how broad 404 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: that whole permission to quote take away any sculptures or 405 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,679 Speaker 1: inscriptions was really supposed to be. It doesn't seem like 406 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: Elegan or his delegates were envisioning a huge removal of 407 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: artwork from the Parthenon. When they made that original request 408 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: and a letter that Elgin wrote at the time, he 409 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: talked about taking away quote, little ornaments or detached pieces 410 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: if any are found, which would be interesting for the arts. 411 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: He wasn't really talking about taking away entire sculptures or 412 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: sections of the Parthenon. Freeze. Hunt's original memo requesting the 413 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: Ferman is similar, specifically limiting the request to being allowed 414 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: to remove things that did not interfere with the Parthenon's 415 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,720 Speaker 1: works or walls. The Ferman didn't include that detail, but 416 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: in the context of its writing, it also doesn't seem 417 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: to have been intended as a blanket permission for the 418 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: British team to remove large amounts of sculpture from the 419 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: Parthenon's physical structure. Regardless, a few days after arriving in 420 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: Athens and delivering the Ferman to the void Vote, Hunt 421 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: asked for permission to remove one of the metapiece that 422 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: was already kind of loose. The Voivode either interpreted the 423 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: firm and is allowing for this removal, or he interpreted 424 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: it as giving him the authority to make that decision. 425 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, also some inducement of that interpretation happening. 426 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 1: Elgin's team took down the metapee in question later that day, 427 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: and they took down a second one the following day. 428 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: Hunt reported this to Elgin in a letter that reveals 429 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: another motivation for this removal besides the edification of British 430 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: artists and architects and protecting Greek antiquities from damage and destruction, 431 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: and that motivation was keeping this artwork out of the 432 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: hands of the French. In reporting his success to Elgin, 433 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 1: Hunt wrote, quote, these admirable specimens of Greek sculpture, which 434 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: have been repeatedly refused to the gold and influence of 435 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 1: France in the zenith of her power, I have now 436 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: embarked with other precious fragments of antiquity. This was just 437 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: the start of the British removal of art from the 438 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: Parthenon and from elsewhere at the Acropolis and in Athens 439 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: in general. All. Ultimately, people working under Elgin's direction removed 440 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 1: some of all of the different sculptural elements that we 441 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: described earlier. Parts of the freeze, the metapees and the 442 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: pediment sculptures, along with the northeast column blocks of molding 443 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: and other statuary and architectural elements. They also removed other 444 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: antiquities from elsewhere at the Acropolis and elsewhere in Athens. 445 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: Although Elgin's original project had been focused on making accurate diagrams, 446 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: illustrations and molds, and taking fragments or pieces that had 447 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: already been broken or fallen or otherwise been removed from 448 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: the Parthenon, as time went on he became more and 449 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: more focused on getting as many original objects as possible, 450 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: particularly from the High Classical period around the fifth century BC. 451 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: In one letter, Elgin wrote quote, I should wish to 452 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: have examples in the actual objects of each thing, and 453 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: architectural ornament of each cornice, each freeze, each capital, of 454 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: the decorated ceilings, of the fluted column specimens, of the 455 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 1: different architectural orders, and of the variant forms of the 456 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 1: orders of the metapies and the like, as much as possible. Finally, 457 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: everything in the way of sculpture, metals and curious marbles 458 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: that can be discovered by means of assiduous and indefatigable excavation. 459 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: This excavation not to be pushed on as much as possible, 460 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 1: be its success. What it may as part of this, 461 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: Elegan's team bought a house on the Acropolis that had 462 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: belonged to an Ottoman soldier, and they tore the house 463 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,919 Speaker 1: down and excavated its foundations, and they found a piece 464 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: of the west pediment that had probably been thrown down 465 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: in that powder magazine explosion in seven. They also found 466 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: a central piece of the Parthenon freeze, which seemed to 467 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: have been removed from the structure long before. They also 468 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: escalated their work and removing sculptures and carvings directly from 469 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: the Parthenon itself. The freeze that runs around the perimeter 470 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: had been carved directly into the stone blocks that were 471 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: part of the structure, so Elgin's team had to saw 472 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: the faces off of the blocks to remove them. It 473 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: just makes my stomach sinkly. Uh. The increasingly ambitious scope 474 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: of Elgin's collection of artwork presented a problem. Marble is heavy, 475 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: and all these freezes, relief statues, and architectural pieces were 476 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: really adding up. Elgin needed a way to get them home. 477 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: At one point he wrote back to England to ask 478 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: if a warship could be dispatched that was capable of 479 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,360 Speaker 1: bringing an entire building disassembled to be reconstructed in England. 480 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: Throughout all of this, documents from Elgin and his team 481 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: referenced to what they saw as a rescue mission, taking 482 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: all these elements into safe keeping to prevent their future destruction, 483 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: and their letters also reveal an ongoing sense of rivalry 484 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: with France and of getting material for Britain that surpassed 485 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: what had been placed in the louver. At the same time, 486 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: other people on Elgin's diplomatic team were buying or taking 487 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 1: items from all over Greece, many of which were destined 488 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: for their own personal collections for themselves, so outside of 489 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: the scope of this project. Later on, Elgin and his 490 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: team would say that they had encountered no resistance from 491 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: the Greek population over what they were doing, and no 492 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: sign that the local people were upset or angry about it, 493 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: and that they had handled all of it as carefully 494 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: as possible. But other accounts contradict that English clergyman and 495 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: naturalist Edward Daniel Clark saw some of the ongoing work 496 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: at the Parthenon while touring Greece. He wrote in a 497 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: letter quote, we saw this fine piece of sculpture raised 498 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: from its station between the triglyphs, but the workmen, endeavoring 499 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: to give it a position adapted to the projected line 500 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: of descent. A part of the adjoining masonry was loosened 501 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: by the machinery, and down came the fine masses of 502 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: pentelic in marble, scattering their white fragments with thundering noise 503 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: among the ruins. Clark's account went on to describe the 504 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: disdar as in tears over what was being done. Clark 505 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 1: was not alone in this reaction. Shortly before Aigan's embassy 506 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: left Constantinople, which we're going to talk about more in 507 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: Part two, a teacher named Johannes Benizelo wrote a letter 508 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: to Hunt that read, in part quote, one thing only 509 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: would make you sad, as it does all those who 510 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: have some understanding of these things, the last deplorable stripping 511 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis and of 512 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: the other relics of antiquity. The temple is like a 513 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: noble and wealthy lady who has lost all her diamonds 514 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: and jewelry. Oh, how we Athenians must take this event 515 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: to heart, and how we must praise and admire the 516 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: ancient heroes of Rome, Pompey and Hadrian when we look 517 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: on these things in the end that the material Elegan's 518 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 1: team removed from the Parthenon included almost half of the 519 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: original friezes fifteen and the ninety two metapees and seventeen 520 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: pediment statues. They also removed other statues and architectural elements. Overall, 521 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: it was about half of the surviving sculptures, friezes, and 522 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: similar objects. It took more than one seventy grates to 523 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: back them and at least fifteen different ships to transport 524 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: them all to England. We're going to talk about when 525 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: they got to England. Uh, next time. For now, you 526 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 1: got some listener mail I do. I have listener mail 527 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: about a different ancient monument and it follows our episode 528 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: on the rock youn Churches of Lalibela. And this is 529 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: from Jerusalem, Jerusalem, writes Hi, Tracy and Holly, thank you 530 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to do an episode 531 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: on La Labella. I'm Ethiopian American. Both of my parents 532 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: are Ethiopian, and I was born in the States and 533 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: it was a great Christmas gift seeing my favorite podcast 534 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: cover one of my favorite places. I just wanted to 535 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 1: give you a bit more context and hopefully answer some 536 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 1: of the questions you post and you're behind the scenes 537 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: Mini sed one. If you want more information about the 538 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: story of Middle Ech taking the Ark of the Covenant 539 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: and moving it to Ethiopia, I would encourage you to 540 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: check out a book called the Kebra Nigest. It means 541 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: the Glory of Kings in English. It essentially describes the 542 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: history of Ethiopia, including the story of the Queen of Sheba, 543 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: King Solomon, and their son Menelek. Here is a link 544 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: to the English translation to All Ethiopian Orthodox churches actually 545 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: have replicas of the Ark of the Covenant called a 546 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 1: taboo in Gez, which is the a liturgical language, not 547 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: just the churches and Lali Bella. Although viewing of this 548 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: replica is restricted to specific church officials and a specific 549 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,720 Speaker 1: part of the churches called the Holy of Holy, during 550 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: certain religious holidays, this replica has taken out and paraded 551 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: around the church for all to see. The most known 552 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: religious holiday where this occurs as tim Kett, which celebrates 553 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: the baptism of Jesus three. I'm sure you came across 554 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: this in your research, but a lot of Ethiopian names 555 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: are directly tied to Christianity. Loalibella's first name Gebra Mescal, 556 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: literally means servant of the Cross when translated into English, 557 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: his wife's name Mescal Cibra means respect of the Cross, 558 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: and his son's name yet Barak means let it be blessed. 559 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: This Ethiopian tradition of having deeply religious names continues to 560 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: this day evident and the fact that my name is Jerusalem, 561 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 1: thank you for all that you do, wishing you both 562 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: the happy New Year, Jerusalem. Thank you so much, Jerusalem 563 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: for this email. I really enjoyed reading it from somebody 564 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,120 Speaker 1: that had so many personal connections to it. And I 565 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: actually don't recall if I came across it in my 566 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: research that a lot of Ethiopian names um are directly 567 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: tied to Christianity. I don't know if that would have 568 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: jumped out at me if I had, because like my 569 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: own immediate and extended family includes like Matthew, Mark, Luke, 570 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: and John, like we have a lot of Bible names 571 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: in my family like Um. It's it's not it's not 572 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 1: naming uh that that would really necessarily seem unusual to me, 573 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: but it is really cool to see how how that 574 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: is used in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. So thank you again 575 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: Jerusalem for that note and that other information. If you 576 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any 577 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: other podcast or a history podcast, that I heart radio 578 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: dot com. And we're also all over social media as 579 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: miss in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, 580 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our show on Apple, podcast, 581 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 1: the I heart radio app, and anywhere else you'd like 582 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: to hear your podcasts. 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