A new legal framework that came into force in France in early May brings the issue of cultural heritage returns back to the forefront and sets a new context for the debate surrounding the Parthenon fragments kept at the Louvre Museum.
Lawyer and researcher Katerina Titi tells ERTnews that the law facilitates the return of cultural heritage objects that have either ended up in French collections or have been illegally removed since 1815. He notes that about six fragments attributed to the Parthenon have been identified in the Louvre Museum, although for one or two of them there is no absolute certainty as to their origin.
Four of the six fragments, she said, appear likely to fall within the scope of the new law, having entered French collections after 1815, a critical chronological requirement.
The choice of 1815 as a milestone is linked to Napoleon’s defeat and the subsequent agreements to return cultural property removed during his campaigns. As explained, France then proceeded to make returns of antiquities, including to Italy, and so it was considered that the issue of pre-1815 looting had largely been settled, with the new legal mechanism mainly dealing with later cases.
On a political and diplomatic level, any return of Parthenon fragments from France would, according to the analysis, have strong symbolic significance, but would not constitute a direct legal change to the claim to the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum. However, it is felt that such a move could increase political pressure on the British side.
Recall that Greece has already managed to repatriate parts of the Parthenon from the University of Heidelberg in 2006, as well as from the Archaeological Museum of Palermo and the Vatican Museum, gradually reinforcing the international trend of revisiting older acquisitions.
At the same time, it is underlined that Greece is not the only country seeking the return of cultural treasures, as the debate on the repatriation of objects to countries of origin is intensifying internationally, with the position of the British Museum coming under increasing pressure from various fronts.
In response to questions about other well-known works, such as the Aphrodite of Milos or the Victory of Samothrace, it is explained that they do not seem to fall under the same legal framework, as the time requirement of the law does not cover them.
Source: ertnews.gr
