Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class the production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome
Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying.
Speaker 1: As we mentioned in our recent Unearthed, over the last
Speaker 1: several months, there's been a lot of discussion around the
Speaker 1: Parthenon sculptures, which are also known as the Elgin Marbles.
Speaker 1: These are classical Greek sculptures that the seventh Earl of
Speaker 1: Elgin arranged to have removed from Greece, particularly from the
Speaker 1: Parthenon and other monuments at the Acropolis and Athens, and
Speaker 1: that started in eighteen oh one. And this controversy surrounding
Speaker 1: these sculptures is really not new, like there's been a
Speaker 1: lot about it in the last few months, but it
Speaker 1: goes all the way back to the early nineteenth century,
Speaker 1: even before these sculptures were placed in the British Museum,
Speaker 1: which happened in eighteen seventeen. Greece has been actively trying
Speaker 1: to get them back since the start of the Greek
Speaker 1: Revolution in Britain has consistently refused to return them, and
Speaker 1: there's been more vocal demand for the sculptures return at
Speaker 1: various points over the last two hundred years, including now,
Speaker 1: so this is not something that people just started talking about.
Speaker 1: And this is also tied to much broader conversations about
Speaker 1: things like the role of museums and the preservation of
Speaker 1: cultural heritage and respect for indigenous and colonized people. So
Speaker 1: it's really a bigger topic than we can really do
Speaker 1: justice too in periodic updates on on Earth about where
Speaker 1: the conversation is at the moment. It's also a bigger
Speaker 1: topic than we can cover in just one episode. I
Speaker 1: was telling Holly before we started recording that it even
Speaker 1: could have been more than two, but we're going to
Speaker 1: cover it as two parts. Today we will have some
Speaker 1: background about Lord Elgin and his initial removal of these
Speaker 1: sculptures and architectural elements, and the next time we will
Speaker 1: be talking about how things progressed from there up into
Speaker 1: the debates about uh this artwork in architectural material today.
Speaker 1: Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and eleven of Kincarden,
Speaker 1: was born on July seventeen sixty six. As a young man,
Speaker 1: he was considered to be quite promising. In seventeen ninety,
Speaker 1: at the age of twenty four, he started serving in
Speaker 1: the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative peer. He
Speaker 1: embarked on his first diplomatic assignment at the age of
Speaker 1: twenty five, and he served in the British Army, reaching
Speaker 1: the rank of lieutenant colonel by the age of twenty nine.
Speaker 1: He was also chronically ill and in his early thirties.
Speaker 1: His doctor recommended that he try warm sea bathing, so
Speaker 1: he started looking for some kind of position where he
Speaker 1: would be stationed somewhere and what he thought would be
Speaker 1: a more hospitable climate for his health. That opportunity wound
Speaker 1: up coming straight from the King George the Third. At
Speaker 1: a ball, the King pulled Elgin aside and mentioned that
Speaker 1: he had decided to appoint an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Speaker 1: That person would be stationed in Constantinople, which is Istanbul,
Speaker 1: Turkey today. The King recommended that Elgin apply for this position.
Speaker 1: Britain already had some other diplomatic staff in Constantinople, but
Speaker 1: this ambassador post was new. Britain and the Ottoman Empire
Speaker 1: had each been fighting against France in the French Revolutionary Wars.
Speaker 1: The British Army and Navy had been assisting Ottoman forces
Speaker 1: and Britain wanted a formal treaty of alliance between the
Speaker 1: two nations. Britain also wanted to negotiate various trading arrangements
Speaker 1: with the Ottoman Empire, including gaining access to trade through
Speaker 1: the Black Seeds, so having a full ambassador stationed in
Speaker 1: the Ottoman capital made a lot of logical sense. In
Speaker 1: sevent when he was thirty three, Elgin was appointed to
Speaker 1: be the Minister Plany Potentiary and Ambassador Extraordinary of his
Speaker 1: Britannic Majesty to the Sublime port of Sultan Selim the Third.
Speaker 1: He put off his departure for several months so that
Speaker 1: he could marry twenty one year old married Nisbit, and
Speaker 1: so he could hire the staff that would accompany and
Speaker 1: work with him in Constantinople. As he was preparing for
Speaker 1: this assignment, Elgin also proposed another project for his time
Speaker 1: in Constantinople. The idea started with architect Thomas Harrison, who
Speaker 1: was designing a home for Elgin. Harrison suggested that Elgin's
Speaker 1: position in Constantinople might give him an opportunity to expand
Speaker 1: British knowledge of classical Greek art and architecture. So students
Speaker 1: in Britain already had access to things like written descriptions
Speaker 1: and engravings showing these kinds of sculptures and historic buildings
Speaker 1: and monuments, but it was possible that Elgin could use
Speaker 1: his position to gather more detailed information. He could get
Speaker 1: permission from Ottoman authorities to send artists and mold makers
Speaker 1: to these monuments and other sites, and they could make
Speaker 1: more detailed diagrams and illustrations, and also make plaster casts
Speaker 1: of the artwork and the architectural elements. At this point, though,
Speaker 1: this proposed project didn't involve really removing anything, at least
Speaker 1: not anything major, and Elgin was an art lover and
Speaker 1: he was incredibly excited by this idea. He went back
Speaker 1: to the government to try to get funding for it,
Speaker 1: making a case for how much it would enrich Britain's
Speaker 1: own artistic and architectural traditions. The government, though, declined to
Speaker 1: fund this project, but it did pay for a search
Speaker 1: for previously unknown manuscripts in Ottoman libraries, and that actually
Speaker 1: had some overlap with what Elgin was trying to do,
Speaker 1: and a lot of the permissions for the search came
Speaker 1: through Elgan's work and influence. But that manuscript search is
Speaker 1: also its own whole story beyond the sculpture story that
Speaker 1: we were talking about in these episodes. Yeah, I felt
Speaker 1: like it would be an oversight to not mention that
Speaker 1: it was also going on, but it's beyond the scope
Speaker 1: of what we're really getting into. When the government decided
Speaker 1: not to pay for this project, Elegan decided that he
Speaker 1: would fund it himself. And it was also customary at
Speaker 1: this point for ambassadors to pay for their staff's salaries themselves,
Speaker 1: rather than those staff members being positions that were paid
Speaker 1: also by the government, So this was adding up to
Speaker 1: be a really expensive position for Elgin. Even though his
Speaker 1: own salary also turned out to be less than he
Speaker 1: expected when he took the job, he thought that he
Speaker 1: could manage, especially since at some point he would be
Speaker 1: coming into his wife's family fortune, which was significant. He
Speaker 1: also genuinely thought that documenting all this classical Greek art
Speaker 1: and architecture was really important, and he thought it would
Speaker 1: be worth the expense. When Ellian finally departed on his
Speaker 1: sea voyage to Constantinople, he and his retinue made several
Speaker 1: stops along the way, and some of them were because
Speaker 1: his wife Mary was pregnant with their first child, and
Speaker 1: she was very, very seasick. But they also stopped in
Speaker 1: Naples and Rome with the hope of recruiting draftsman, architects, painters,
Speaker 1: mold makers, and other artists and artisans to help with
Speaker 1: their project of documenting classical art and architecture in Greece.
Speaker 1: This is a recruitment effort, though turned out to be
Speaker 1: something of a challenge. France had invaded Italy during the
Speaker 1: French Revolutionary Wars, and France had seized a lot of
Speaker 1: Italy's most famous artwork to take back to the Louver.
Speaker 1: The Louver Museum had opened in seventeen nine three after
Speaker 1: being a royal palace for more than two hundred years,
Speaker 1: and France during the French Revolutionary Wars had just aggressively
Speaker 1: looted artwork from the nations that had invaded, and then
Speaker 1: it was using that artwork to expand the Louver's collection.
Speaker 1: After invading Italy, France had recruited Italian artists to help
Speaker 1: prepare and transport all this artwork back to Paris. On
Speaker 1: top of the general labor shortage this created for Elgin,
Speaker 1: many of Italy's artistic community had sided with France and
Speaker 1: that meant that Elgin had concerns about the loyalty of
Speaker 1: anyone that they recruited. Although Elgin was ultimately able to
Speaker 1: hire people with the skills that he needed, he wound
Speaker 1: up having to spend a lot more than he had
Speaker 1: budgeted to do it. Leading the team was Giovanni Battista Lucieri,
Speaker 1: a landscape painter from Naples. Elgin and his retinue arrived
Speaker 1: in Constantinople and May at eighteen eighty he dispatched Lucieri
Speaker 1: and this team of artists and artisans to Athens, and
Speaker 1: they arrived there that August. We will get to what
Speaker 1: happened after they arrived after a quick sponsor break. By
Speaker 1: the time Lord Elgin and his staff arrived in Constantinople
Speaker 1: in May of eighteen eighty, several of the concrete objectives
Speaker 1: that had led to the creation of this whole ambassador
Speaker 1: posting had already been accomplished by some other people. For example,
Speaker 1: a formal treaty of alliance between Britain and the Ottoman
Speaker 1: Empire had already been negotiated, but it wasn't ratified yet,
Speaker 1: and British trade was already being allowed through the Black Sea.
Speaker 1: In fact, some of the diplomatic personnel already in Constantinople
Speaker 1: were surprised and frustrated by Elgin's appointment. This included British
Speaker 1: Navy officer Sir Sidney Smith and his brother John Spencer Smith,
Speaker 1: who had been acting as ministers. They thought the arrival
Speaker 1: of a new ambassador undermined their ability to finish the
Speaker 1: negotiations they had already started, and raised questions among Ottoman authorities.
Speaker 1: In terms of Elgin's work as ambassador, it seems to
Speaker 1: have become somewhat more general, protecting British interests in an
Speaker 1: overall sense, protecting Christians and British citizens in Ottoman territory,
Speaker 1: and ratifying and formalizing those agreements that other people had
Speaker 1: drafted before him. Meanwhile, Giovanni Batista Lucierian team arrived in Athens.
Speaker 1: They started trying to get access to the Acropolis. Today,
Speaker 1: the Acropolis is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Speaker 1: because of all the monuments there and the history of
Speaker 1: the site, and the words of UNESCO from its description
Speaker 1: of the Acropolis is outstanding universal value. Quote. On this
Speaker 1: hill were born democracy, philosophy, theater, freedom of expression and speech,
Speaker 1: which provide to this day the intellectual and spiritual foundation
Speaker 1: for the contemporary world and its values. But in the
Speaker 1: nineteenth century the acropolis looked much different from the way
Speaker 1: it does today. Most of the city of Athens was
Speaker 1: in its immediate vicinity. The acropolis itself was being used
Speaker 1: as a village and garrison, with houses and other structures
Speaker 1: built in and around the complex of monuments. In some cases,
Speaker 1: parts of those monuments had been used as building materials
Speaker 1: for these new structures. So for a little bit about
Speaker 1: these monuments that Lucieri and the team were there to document.
Speaker 1: They included the Parthenon, the Erectheon, the Propylia, and the
Speaker 1: Temple of Athena Nike. These were built in the fifth
Speaker 1: century b c. In the period known as the Athenian
Speaker 1: Golden Age. This was after the city state of Athens
Speaker 1: established itself as a democracy following war with Persia. Athenian
Speaker 1: statesman Pericles embarked on an ambitious plan to create just
Speaker 1: a massive monument complex on top of the acropolis. This
Speaker 1: work involved multiple architects and sculptors, with sculptor Piteous being
Speaker 1: described as the art director for this whole project. Phideous
Speaker 1: in his assistants also created most of the statuary that
Speaker 1: adorned the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a Doric temple dedicated
Speaker 1: to the goddess Athena Parthenos. Built between four forty seven
Speaker 1: and four thirty two b C. It's a rectangular structure
Speaker 1: with a colonnade and extensive sculpture adorning its roof line.
Speaker 1: It's both an artistic and an architectural marvel, and at
Speaker 1: the time of its construction was the largest and most
Speaker 1: elaborate temple in mainland Greece. The Parthenon surviving sculptures are
Speaker 1: no longer on the structure itself. Originally, the walls of
Speaker 1: the Parthenon's inner chamber or the cella or adorned with
Speaker 1: a freeze, or a band of horizontally oriented relief sculptures
Speaker 1: that ran all the way around the upper perimeter. The
Speaker 1: freeze tells the story of a festival honoring the goddess Athena.
Speaker 1: Then the exterior colonnades roof line had a series of
Speaker 1: ninety two high relief carvings in the spaces called metapes,
Speaker 1: and then the pediment or the triangular space on the
Speaker 1: east and the west sides, where the peak of the
Speaker 1: roof happened. That area contained statues as well, and initially
Speaker 1: the Parthenon also contained a massive ivory and gold statue
Speaker 1: of the goddess Athena, which at the time was also
Speaker 1: the largest statue in Athens. The Parthenon survived fairly well
Speaker 1: for about eight hundred years after its construction. The Athena
Speaker 1: Parthenos statue was removed at some point and later lost,
Speaker 1: although there are ancient copies of it that have survived.
Speaker 1: The Parthenon itself was damaged by fire in the third
Speaker 1: century CE, and later it was converted into a Christian church,
Speaker 1: and at that time some of its traditional Greek religious
Speaker 1: elements were intentionally damaged. Then, after the Ottoman Empire conquered Greece,
Speaker 1: it converted the Parthenon into a mosque. That conversion happened
Speaker 1: sometime in the fifteenth century, and at some point after
Speaker 1: that the Empire started using it as a military fortification
Speaker 1: as well. In sixteen eight seven, when Venice and the
Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire were at war, the Parthenon was being used
Speaker 1: as a powder magazine among other purposes, and the gunpowder
Speaker 1: being stored there exploded when the building was attacked that
Speaker 1: killed at least three hundred people and caused significant damage
Speaker 1: to the structure. There were also stories about Ottoman forces
Speaker 1: and local Greeks destroying the acropolis monuments to make use
Speaker 1: of their component parts, either pounding the marble into mortar
Speaker 1: or pulling sculptures down to get to the lead that
Speaker 1: was used to connect them to the building. If that
Speaker 1: was true, those practices were probably ended by the eighteenth century,
Speaker 1: because at that point it had become extremely common for
Speaker 1: foreign visitors to Athens to try to buy pieces of
Speaker 1: classical sculpture and other antiquities. These were typically visitors from
Speaker 1: Western Europe who made offers to Ottoman authorities for everything
Speaker 1: from whole statues to broken off fragments, and for the
Speaker 1: most part, Ottoman authorities were fine with this. They were
Speaker 1: really invested in trying to protect the area's historical or
Speaker 1: cultural heritage, and they realized that there was money to
Speaker 1: be made here, even on things like broken off corners
Speaker 1: of marble columns. In testimony that he gave before Parliament
Speaker 1: later on, Elgin described the situation this way, quote, every
Speaker 1: traveler coming added to the general defacement of the statuary
Speaker 1: in his reach. There are now in London pieces broken
Speaker 1: off within our day, and the Turks have been continually
Speaker 1: defacing the heads, and in some instances they have actually
Speaker 1: acknowledged to me that they have pounded down the statues
Speaker 1: to convert them into mortar. It was upon these suggestions,
Speaker 1: and with these feelings, that I proceeded to remove as
Speaker 1: much of the sculpture as I conveniently could. It was
Speaker 1: no part of my original plan to bring away anything
Speaker 1: but my models. So in some cases, these Western European
Speaker 1: efforts to acquire Greek antiquities went so far as to
Speaker 1: have official or semi official attempts to secure them on
Speaker 1: behalf of various governments. For example, the Comte Deschozoi Gauffier
Speaker 1: was the French ambassador to the Ottoman port at the
Speaker 1: end of the eighteenth century, and he specifically instructed an
Speaker 1: antiquary who toured Greece with him to quote pillage anything
Speaker 1: that is pillageable in Athens or its territory. He also
Speaker 1: embarked on a similar cast making project to what Elgin
Speaker 1: had proposed and we talked about earlier, and he hoped
Speaker 1: to secure the freezes and other carvings from the Parthenon
Speaker 1: as well. Ottoman authorities refused that request. But did allow
Speaker 1: him to take some pieces that had been dug up
Speaker 1: after having previously fallen or been knocked off the Parthenon.
Speaker 1: Like Elgin, Choizoe, Gaufier was motivated at least in part
Speaker 1: by the idea that this was a rescue mission. They
Speaker 1: sincerely thought that unless they removed these sculptures and other
Speaker 1: artwork from Athens, that these antiquities would be lost forever.
Speaker 1: And really this was not an unreasonable fear. Pieces and
Speaker 1: fragments stolen from Greece or bought from Ottoman authorities wound
Speaker 1: up in people's private collections. In a lot of cases
Speaker 1: they were just never seen again. There were also ongoing
Speaker 1: threats of destruction by Vandal's warfare, volcanic and seismic activity.
Speaker 1: The list really went on and on. By the start
Speaker 1: of the nineteenth century, as much as fort of the
Speaker 1: sculptures at the Acropolis had already been removed or destroyed
Speaker 1: or otherwise irreparably damaged. So people like Elegan, Schwizoa, Gaufier
Speaker 1: and others really sincerely thought that if they did not
Speaker 1: do something to protect these works, that those works would
Speaker 1: be lost. While Schwizo Guffier had been talking about plundering
Speaker 1: anything that was plunderable. Elgin, at least at first, was
Speaker 1: focused on documentation and not removal, and we're gonna get
Speaker 1: to how that shifted after we first paused for a
Speaker 1: little sponsor break. Although Giovanni Batista Lucy Arey and his
Speaker 1: team got to Athens in August of eighteen eighty, it
Speaker 1: was February of eighteen o one before they got access
Speaker 1: to the Parthenon for the first time. The acropolis was
Speaker 1: still being used for military purposes and it was under
Speaker 1: the control of a military governor known as the Disdar,
Speaker 1: so it wasn't a place that people could just show
Speaker 1: up and tour without some kind of approval. Also, since
Speaker 1: the freezes metapes and other elements they wanted to document.
Speaker 1: We're up at the Parthenon's roofline. Elgin's artists couldn't just
Speaker 1: walk in and set up easels on the ground. They
Speaker 1: had to build scaffolding to get them up to where
Speaker 1: the art was, especially when it came to making molds
Speaker 1: of these sculptures. And they also wanted to be able
Speaker 1: to dig at the site to find the boundaries of
Speaker 1: parts of the structure that were no longer standing, and
Speaker 1: to look for statuary that had previously fallen or been
Speaker 1: knocked down. Lucy Area's team ultimately got access to the
Speaker 1: site by paying local Ottoman authorities, typically the dISTAR, but
Speaker 1: after they got their scaffolding in place, they were barred
Speaker 1: from the site. Authorities had apparently become concerned about a
Speaker 1: French force that was gathering in striking distance of Athens,
Speaker 1: and they decided to bar all foreign visitors to the
Speaker 1: acropolis for the sake of security. Luciery and his team
Speaker 1: were told that they would only be admitted again if
Speaker 1: they got formal instructions from the government. These instructions would
Speaker 1: be in a form that was known as a furman.
Speaker 1: The team continued working in other parts of Athens while
Speaker 1: this ferman was being negotiated, and they did get sporadic
Speaker 1: access to the Parthenon from time to time while it
Speaker 1: was in the works. A firman was finally issued in
Speaker 1: May of eighteen o one, but it was routed from
Speaker 1: Constantinople to Athens through Ottoman government channels and it was
Speaker 1: apparently delayed along the way. In July, the team made
Speaker 1: another request for a firman, this time by way of
Speaker 1: a memo that was written by the Reverend Philip Hunt.
Speaker 1: Hunt was an Anglican priest and the chaplain to the
Speaker 1: British embassy in Constantinople. He had been to Athens and
Speaker 1: had seen firsthand what Luciery and the team were trying
Speaker 1: to do, and he had witnessed the resistance they were
Speaker 1: encountering from authorities. Hunt drafted a memo that detailed exactly
Speaker 1: what permissions he thought needed to be granted for the
Speaker 1: team to successfully complete their project of documenting all of
Speaker 1: this artwork and architecture. Hunts memo outlined that they wanted
Speaker 1: permission to enter the citadel, where they would draw, make
Speaker 1: plaster models, erect scaffolding, and dig to find the positions
Speaker 1: of old foundations. He also said that they should have
Speaker 1: the quote liberty to take away any sculptures or inscriptions
Speaker 1: which do not interfere with the works or walls of
Speaker 1: the citadel. That last sentence seems to have had two objectives. One,
Speaker 1: it would give Lucy Area's team the authority to remove statues, fragments,
Speaker 1: or other objects that weren't connected to the walls of
Speaker 1: the Parthenon anymore so things that had already broken off,
Speaker 1: or fallen or been knocked down two, it would assuage
Speaker 1: the Ottoman authorities fears that the British team's work was
Speaker 1: going to weaken the integrity of the parts of the
Speaker 1: Parthenon that we're still standing. So the idea of being
Speaker 1: if they were getting in there and they were taking
Speaker 1: things that were central to the integrity of the structure,
Speaker 1: it would weaken it. That would have the potential to
Speaker 1: put the structure itself at the military personnel working in
Speaker 1: there at risk, especially if this French attack actually happened.
Speaker 1: So this idea of things that quote do not interfere
Speaker 1: with the works or walls of the citadel would prevent
Speaker 1: that from happening. Right, They weren't asking for permission to
Speaker 1: take away things that were still attached. The only surviving
Speaker 1: copy of the Ferman that followed Hunt's memo is an
Speaker 1: Italian translation, So the way this likely played out was
Speaker 1: that Hunt's memo was translated into Turkish, and then the Furman,
Speaker 1: written in Turkish, was translated into Italian, which was the
Speaker 1: official language in much of the Mediterranean at the time. Normally,
Speaker 1: the Furman would have come from the Grand Vizir, but
Speaker 1: he was in Egypt with the Ottoman army trying to
Speaker 1: repel a French invasion, so the Ferman was issued by
Speaker 1: an acting deputy instead. This fermin mostly restay it Hunt's
Speaker 1: memo point by point. It turned it from a list
Speaker 1: of permissions that should be requested into a document that
Speaker 1: granted those permissions, but it omitted that last statement about
Speaker 1: quote interfering with the works or walls of the citadel.
Speaker 1: Rather than sending the Ferman through formal channels, Elgin named
Speaker 1: Hunt a temporary personal secretary, so it would be within
Speaker 1: his role to carry instructions to Athens himself and act
Speaker 1: as Elegan's representative once he got there. Elgan's other secretaries
Speaker 1: were tied up with other assignments at the time, which
Speaker 1: is why this job fell to Hunt. Elgin also got
Speaker 1: approval from the Ottoman deputy to bypass formal channels to
Speaker 1: make Hunt the Ferman's career in Athens. Hunt delivered the
Speaker 1: Ferman to the Voivode, who was the governor of Athens
Speaker 1: and the dis stars superior. According to British accounts, the
Speaker 1: Voivode was appalled at the treatment that Lucierries team had
Speaker 1: said they were experiencing at the Acropolis. Both their lack
Speaker 1: of access to the Parthenon and the reportedly being her
Speaker 1: a asked by the Ottoman military when they were there,
Speaker 1: and they're being made to pay a fee every day
Speaker 1: that they entered the structure. Various questions still surround this fermin.
Speaker 1: One is whether the surviving Italian translation is even genuine.
Speaker 1: Elgin was able to produce it fifteen years later when
Speaker 1: Parliament was investigating how he had obtained the Parthenon marbles
Speaker 1: and whether Britain should purchase them from him, and that
Speaker 1: has led skeptics to question whether this is the original
Speaker 1: or not. Academics in Turkey have also questioned whether the
Speaker 1: document in question was actually a ferman which was a
Speaker 1: binding order, saying that it might have been intended as
Speaker 1: a general correspondence from authorities in Constantinople to authorities and Athens,
Speaker 1: rather than being something more formal. People have also raised
Speaker 1: questions about the voivodes apparent eagerness to work with the
Speaker 1: British team after getting this document. As this was going on,
Speaker 1: Britain was supporting the Ottoman Empire and its campaign against
Speaker 1: the French invasion of Egypt. Brittain had also us promised
Speaker 1: its support and helping to defend the Greece itself against
Speaker 1: the threat of a French invasion. In other words, it's
Speaker 1: possible that the Voivode was worried about offending the ambassador
Speaker 1: of an important military ally, and that led him to
Speaker 1: be particularly cooperative once he got this communication. It's also
Speaker 1: clear that there was some degree of persuasion involved on
Speaker 1: the British team's part. When a Parliamentary select Committee question
Speaker 1: hunt about all of this years later, he made it
Speaker 1: clear that he induced, that's his word, the Voivode to
Speaker 1: interpret the Firman as granting permission to remove artwork from
Speaker 1: the parthen On walls. He also talked openly of giving
Speaker 1: the Voivote and other officials gems, money, armaments, and other
Speaker 1: gifts throughout his work. According to one traveler's diary, Lucieri's
Speaker 1: team also had to pay a few hundred piastres in
Speaker 1: the vicinity of like fifty five euros today for each
Speaker 1: statue that they removed. And it's also unclear how broad
Speaker 1: that whole permission to quote take away any sculptures or
Speaker 1: inscriptions was really supposed to be. It doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: Elegan or his delegates were envisioning a huge removal of
Speaker 1: artwork from the Parthenon. When they made that original request
Speaker 1: and a letter that Elgin wrote at the time, he
Speaker 1: talked about taking away quote, little ornaments or detached pieces
Speaker 1: if any are found, which would be interesting for the arts.
Speaker 1: He wasn't really talking about taking away entire sculptures or
Speaker 1: sections of the Parthenon. Freeze. Hunt's original memo requesting the
Speaker 1: Ferman is similar, specifically limiting the request to being allowed
Speaker 1: to remove things that did not interfere with the Parthenon's
Speaker 1: works or walls. The Ferman didn't include that detail, but
Speaker 1: in the context of its writing, it also doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to have been intended as a blanket permission for the
Speaker 1: British team to remove large amounts of sculpture from the
Speaker 1: Parthenon's physical structure. Regardless, a few days after arriving in
Speaker 1: Athens and delivering the Ferman to the void Vote, Hunt
Speaker 1: asked for permission to remove one of the metapiece that
Speaker 1: was already kind of loose. The Voivode either interpreted the
Speaker 1: firm and is allowing for this removal, or he interpreted
Speaker 1: it as giving him the authority to make that decision.
Speaker 1: As we said earlier, also some inducement of that interpretation happening.
Speaker 1: Elgin's team took down the metapee in question later that day,
Speaker 1: and they took down a second one the following day.
Speaker 1: Hunt reported this to Elgin in a letter that reveals
Speaker 1: another motivation for this removal besides the edification of British
Speaker 1: artists and architects and protecting Greek antiquities from damage and destruction,
Speaker 1: and that motivation was keeping this artwork out of the
Speaker 1: hands of the French. In reporting his success to Elgin,
Speaker 1: Hunt wrote, quote, these admirable specimens of Greek sculpture, which
Speaker 1: have been repeatedly refused to the gold and influence of
Speaker 1: France in the zenith of her power, I have now
Speaker 1: embarked with other precious fragments of antiquity. This was just
Speaker 1: the start of the British removal of art from the
Speaker 1: Parthenon and from elsewhere at the Acropolis and in Athens
Speaker 1: in general. All. Ultimately, people working under Elgin's direction removed
Speaker 1: some of all of the different sculptural elements that we
Speaker 1: described earlier. Parts of the freeze, the metapees and the
Speaker 1: pediment sculptures, along with the northeast column blocks of molding
Speaker 1: and other statuary and architectural elements. They also removed other
Speaker 1: antiquities from elsewhere at the Acropolis and elsewhere in Athens.
Speaker 1: Although Elgin's original project had been focused on making accurate diagrams,
Speaker 1: illustrations and molds, and taking fragments or pieces that had
Speaker 1: already been broken or fallen or otherwise been removed from
Speaker 1: the Parthenon, as time went on he became more and
Speaker 1: more focused on getting as many original objects as possible,
Speaker 1: particularly from the High Classical period around the fifth century BC.
Speaker 1: In one letter, Elgin wrote quote, I should wish to
Speaker 1: have examples in the actual objects of each thing, and
Speaker 1: architectural ornament of each cornice, each freeze, each capital, of
Speaker 1: the decorated ceilings, of the fluted column specimens, of the
Speaker 1: different architectural orders, and of the variant forms of the
Speaker 1: orders of the metapies and the like, as much as possible. Finally,
Speaker 1: everything in the way of sculpture, metals and curious marbles
Speaker 1: that can be discovered by means of assiduous and indefatigable excavation.
Speaker 1: This excavation not to be pushed on as much as possible,
Speaker 1: be its success. What it may as part of this,
Speaker 1: Elegan's team bought a house on the Acropolis that had
Speaker 1: belonged to an Ottoman soldier, and they tore the house
Speaker 1: down and excavated its foundations, and they found a piece
Speaker 1: of the west pediment that had probably been thrown down
Speaker 1: in that powder magazine explosion in seven. They also found
Speaker 1: a central piece of the Parthenon freeze, which seemed to
Speaker 1: have been removed from the structure long before. They also
Speaker 1: escalated their work and removing sculptures and carvings directly from
Speaker 1: the Parthenon itself. The freeze that runs around the perimeter
Speaker 1: had been carved directly into the stone blocks that were
Speaker 1: part of the structure, so Elgin's team had to saw
Speaker 1: the faces off of the blocks to remove them. It
Speaker 1: just makes my stomach sinkly. Uh. The increasingly ambitious scope
Speaker 1: of Elgin's collection of artwork presented a problem. Marble is heavy,
Speaker 1: and all these freezes, relief statues, and architectural pieces were
Speaker 1: really adding up. Elgin needed a way to get them home.
Speaker 1: At one point he wrote back to England to ask
Speaker 1: if a warship could be dispatched that was capable of
Speaker 1: bringing an entire building disassembled to be reconstructed in England.
Speaker 1: Throughout all of this, documents from Elgin and his team
Speaker 1: referenced to what they saw as a rescue mission, taking
Speaker 1: all these elements into safe keeping to prevent their future destruction,
Speaker 1: and their letters also reveal an ongoing sense of rivalry
Speaker 1: with France and of getting material for Britain that surpassed
Speaker 1: what had been placed in the louver. At the same time,
Speaker 1: other people on Elgin's diplomatic team were buying or taking
Speaker 1: items from all over Greece, many of which were destined
Speaker 1: for their own personal collections for themselves, so outside of
Speaker 1: the scope of this project. Later on, Elgin and his
Speaker 1: team would say that they had encountered no resistance from
Speaker 1: the Greek population over what they were doing, and no
Speaker 1: sign that the local people were upset or angry about it,
Speaker 1: and that they had handled all of it as carefully
Speaker 1: as possible. But other accounts contradict that English clergyman and
Speaker 1: naturalist Edward Daniel Clark saw some of the ongoing work
Speaker 1: at the Parthenon while touring Greece. He wrote in a
Speaker 1: letter quote, we saw this fine piece of sculpture raised
Speaker 1: from its station between the triglyphs, but the workmen, endeavoring
Speaker 1: to give it a position adapted to the projected line
Speaker 1: of descent. A part of the adjoining masonry was loosened
Speaker 1: by the machinery, and down came the fine masses of
Speaker 1: pentelic in marble, scattering their white fragments with thundering noise
Speaker 1: among the ruins. Clark's account went on to describe the
Speaker 1: disdar as in tears over what was being done. Clark
Speaker 1: was not alone in this reaction. Shortly before Aigan's embassy
Speaker 1: left Constantinople, which we're going to talk about more in
Speaker 1: Part two, a teacher named Johannes Benizelo wrote a letter
Speaker 1: to Hunt that read, in part quote, one thing only
Speaker 1: would make you sad, as it does all those who
Speaker 1: have some understanding of these things, the last deplorable stripping
Speaker 1: of the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis and of
Speaker 1: the other relics of antiquity. The temple is like a
Speaker 1: noble and wealthy lady who has lost all her diamonds
Speaker 1: and jewelry. Oh, how we Athenians must take this event
Speaker 1: to heart, and how we must praise and admire the
Speaker 1: ancient heroes of Rome, Pompey and Hadrian when we look
Speaker 1: on these things in the end that the material Elegan's
Speaker 1: team removed from the Parthenon included almost half of the
Speaker 1: original friezes fifteen and the ninety two metapees and seventeen
Speaker 1: pediment statues. They also removed other statues and architectural elements. Overall,
Speaker 1: it was about half of the surviving sculptures, friezes, and
Speaker 1: similar objects. It took more than one seventy grates to
Speaker 1: back them and at least fifteen different ships to transport
Speaker 1: them all to England. We're going to talk about when
Speaker 1: they got to England. Uh, next time. For now, you
Speaker 1: got some listener mail I do. I have listener mail
Speaker 1: about a different ancient monument and it follows our episode
Speaker 1: on the rock youn Churches of Lalibela. And this is
Speaker 1: from Jerusalem, Jerusalem, writes Hi, Tracy and Holly, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to do an episode
Speaker 1: on La Labella. I'm Ethiopian American. Both of my parents
Speaker 1: are Ethiopian, and I was born in the States and
Speaker 1: it was a great Christmas gift seeing my favorite podcast
Speaker 1: cover one of my favorite places. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: give you a bit more context and hopefully answer some
Speaker 1: of the questions you post and you're behind the scenes
Speaker 1: Mini sed one. If you want more information about the
Speaker 1: story of Middle Ech taking the Ark of the Covenant
Speaker 1: and moving it to Ethiopia, I would encourage you to
Speaker 1: check out a book called the Kebra Nigest. It means
Speaker 1: the Glory of Kings in English. It essentially describes the
Speaker 1: history of Ethiopia, including the story of the Queen of Sheba,
Speaker 1: King Solomon, and their son Menelek. Here is a link
Speaker 1: to the English translation to All Ethiopian Orthodox churches actually
Speaker 1: have replicas of the Ark of the Covenant called a
Speaker 1: taboo in Gez, which is the a liturgical language, not
Speaker 1: just the churches and Lali Bella. Although viewing of this
Speaker 1: replica is restricted to specific church officials and a specific
Speaker 1: part of the churches called the Holy of Holy, during
Speaker 1: certain religious holidays, this replica has taken out and paraded
Speaker 1: around the church for all to see. The most known
Speaker 1: religious holiday where this occurs as tim Kett, which celebrates
Speaker 1: the baptism of Jesus three. I'm sure you came across
Speaker 1: this in your research, but a lot of Ethiopian names
Speaker 1: are directly tied to Christianity. Loalibella's first name Gebra Mescal,
Speaker 1: literally means servant of the Cross when translated into English,
Speaker 1: his wife's name Mescal Cibra means respect of the Cross,
Speaker 1: and his son's name yet Barak means let it be blessed.
Speaker 1: This Ethiopian tradition of having deeply religious names continues to
Speaker 1: this day evident and the fact that my name is Jerusalem,
Speaker 1: thank you for all that you do, wishing you both
Speaker 1: the happy New Year, Jerusalem. Thank you so much, Jerusalem
Speaker 1: for this email. I really enjoyed reading it from somebody
Speaker 1: that had so many personal connections to it. And I
Speaker 1: actually don't recall if I came across it in my
Speaker 1: research that a lot of Ethiopian names um are directly
Speaker 1: tied to Christianity. I don't know if that would have
Speaker 1: jumped out at me if I had, because like my
Speaker 1: own immediate and extended family includes like Matthew, Mark, Luke,
Speaker 1: and John, like we have a lot of Bible names
Speaker 1: in my family like Um. It's it's not it's not
Speaker 1: naming uh that that would really necessarily seem unusual to me,
Speaker 1: but it is really cool to see how how that
Speaker 1: is used in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. So thank you again
Speaker 1: Jerusalem for that note and that other information. If you
Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any
Speaker 1: other podcast or a history podcast, that I heart radio
Speaker 1: dot com. And we're also all over social media as
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