British Museum Angers Greece with Elgin Marble Loan to Hermitage
- December 07, 2014 23:58
Amid sanctions imposed by NATO nations on Russia over actions in Crimea and Ukraine, Great Britain has loaned "a marble ambassador of a European ideal" with a cultural message for Moscow.
The British Museum has sent a "priceless" statue originally from the Parthenon in Greece to the Hermitage Museum. The single sculpture of the Greek river god Ilissos from the famed frieze went on display in St. Petersburg on Saturday. The Hermitage is celebrating its 250th anniversary.
It is the first time the British Museum has loaned one of the Elgin Marbles to a foreign museum.
Greece has long been calling for the return of the ancient marbles to its Acropolis, and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras described the loan to Russia as "a provocation to the Greek people."
