Archaeologist Roger Michel and his team have tasked themselves with resolving the Parthenon sculptures issue, using the latest technology to create replicas in a bid to convince the British Museum to return the original marbles to Greece.
The team is using state-of-the-art technology to make 3D scans of the marbles in a warehouse-like workshop stationed in central Italy, hoping to end the contentious matter by giving the British Museum replicas, as reported by ABC iview’s Stuff The British Stole.
The official request for the undertaking was initially shut down by the British Museum when the idea was first pitched in 2022, though it did not deter Michael and his team from carrying on.
“We read the regulations for the museum and it says specifically [that], ‘Visitors may use 3D scanning equipment in the museum and they may use the product of those 3D scans for any non-commercial purpose,'” Michel told Stuff The British Stole.
The archaeologist explained that the replicas would bear resemblance to the original look of the sculptures, which he said were “brightly painted with skin tones and garish colours”.
The initiative has been well-received by supporters for the marbles’ return, including British actor and noted Philhellene, Stephen Fry.
“Yes, it is important in a museum to have the real thing, but we live in an age in which … we now are able to reproduce, so they are exact copies,” Fry told Stuff The British Stole.
“That’s a question of human decision about what the value is…But for the Athenians, there is a sacredness about these marbles and it belongs to those people, the Greeks who have suffered over the hundreds of years of occupation.”
The topic has garnered greater attention in recent years with the British Museum floating the idea of developing a “Parthenon partnership” with Greece that could see the marbles displayed in both Athens and London.
The concern, however, remains about the controversial removal of the original sculptures by Lord Elgin, with the original permit, known as a “firman”, to legally remove the sculptures still yet to be found.
Greek journalist Symela Touchtidou addressed the subject on Stuff The British Stole, expressing the sentiment that Greeks want to see action, rather than words, regarding the marbles’ return.
“We were stripped of these marbles … it is like an injustice from that period still hanging today, still lingering today, haunting us,” Greek journalist Symela Touchtidou told Stuff The British Stole.
“It is a symbol of the loss of freedom we had for so many years…The loss of identity itself and the loss of our heritage — that’s why we want them back so passionately.”
Greek government reaffirms Australia’s support for Greece in Parthenon Sculptures dispute
The subject is of great importance to Greece’s diaspora, including in Australia, with one of its biggest supporters being Emanuel Comino, the founder and Chairman of the International Organising Committee – Australia – For the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles (IOC-A-RPM).
Comino, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, has spent the last 45 years campaigning on the issue with the firm belief that they will one day be returned to Greece.
“I intend to work until the day I die or until the day the marbles go back,” said Comino, who is now in his nineties.
“Of course, they will return, without doubt, they will be returned. You can’t have half [of your heart] out of your body somewhere else, right? You got to have [it] all together.”
