10 Missing Pieces From the New Acropolis Museum

A lecture took place on Wednesday 18th November at the National Museum of Ireland entitled ‘Collections present and absent at the New Acropolis Museum, Athens’. Proffessor Dimitrios Pandermalis’s talk bewitched all those present, and as for me, before the end I was already planning a quick visit to the New Acropolis Museum.

Prof. Pandermalis, famous Greek archaeologist and Director of the New Museum, described in detail the long and complex process that eventually led to the construction of the museum.  

Every element of this contemporary architectural marvel has been finely conceived in order to assure the most appropriate and philologically correct arrangement of the artefacts and the most authentic experience for the visitors. Both targets seem to have been widely achieved, as demonstrated by the images of the artefacts display shown during the lecture and by the endless queues of tourists keen to visit and visit again the collection.               

But besides talking of the ‘Collection present’, Prof. Pandermalis also spoke about the collection ‘absent’. The New Acropolis Museum is packed with absences. Gaps in the continuous narrative of the Parthenon marbles are filled with plaster replicas, like in the frieze, or left interrogatively empty, like in the pediments.

One mute outlined square laconically indicates the spot where the only missing caryatid (draped female statues) of the Erechtheion (a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erechthonios) should stand. The lonely caryatid has spent the last 206 years separated from her “sisters” is the British Museum in London. The same institution, as widely known,

When dealing with the issue of transferring these artefacts to the New Acropolis Museum, Prof. Pandermalis repeatedly stressed one important concept: this is not a dispute over ownership; the point is not a country’s right to “get back” or duty to “give back”. What is at stake, in his opinion, is the recognition of the Acropolis of Athens as a symbol of the whole western civilisation. We should therefore talk about ‘reunification’ of the Marbles, and not ‘restitution’.

At the end of the lecture the Professor was interviewed by Brian Dolan and I for Heritage Key. I asked him if there are other objects, besides the Parthenon Marbles, that he would like to see ‘reunited’ to the New Acropolis Museum collection. After briefly hinting at the progress being made towards the reunification of the marbles, he revealed that his ideal collection would include the four missing blocks from the frieze of Athena Nike, which are on display, strangely enough, at the British Museum.

Since the dawn of archaeology a number of objects and parts of monuments have been taken away from the Acropolis of Athens. Starting from the group of masterpieces mentioned by Prof. Pandermalis, I have put together a top ten wish list of artefacts that are not in the New Acropolis Museum, but that definitely should be there.

10 Missing Pieces

1. The Pediments of the Parthenon

The statues of the Parthenon Pediments are probably the most impressive of the ‘Elgin Marbles’. Nobody who has seen the head of the horse of Selene at least once can easily forget such a powerful figure. The Pediments of the Parthenon represent the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus (east Pediment) and the contest between Athena and Poseidon over the patronage of Attica (west Pediment).

Of the 28 preserved statues 9 are in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens and 19 in the British Museum in London; fragments are also in the the Louvre Museum of Paris and in the Vatican Museums of Rome. As Prof. Pandermalis repeatedly stressed, the New Acropolis Museum is ready to welcome the missing pieces at any time. Millions of art-lovers all around the world are anxiously waiting for the good news. 

2: The Metopes of the Parthenon

The 92 Metopes of the Parthenon, marble slabs sculpted in high relief and placed above the external row of columns, represented episodes of the Trojan War (north side), a struggle between Lapiths and Centaurs (south side), a fight between Gods and Giants (east side) and a battle between Greeks and Amazons (west side).
Of the 64 metopes preserved 48 are in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens, 15 in the British Museum of London; fragments are also in the Louvre Museum of Paris, in the Vatican Museums of Rome and at the University of Würzburg.

3: The Frieze of the Parthenon

The Frieze of the Parthenon, formed by 115 marble panels sculpted in low relief, ran horizontally for 160 metres above the cell’s wall. It represents the Panathenaic procession. Of the 94 preserved panels 36 are in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens, 56 in the British Museum in London and 1 with fragments of others in the Louvre Museum of Paris. Further fragments are in the Vatican Museums of Rome, the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna and the Glyptothek of Munich.

4. The Frieze from the Temple of Athena Nike

As reported above, the Frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike was mentioned by Prof. Pandermalis during the brief interview he conceded us. A frieze ran all along the four side of the temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis.

The Frieze, 25.94 metres long and formed by 14 marble blocks, represented an assembly of Gods (east side) and scenes from historic battles (other three sides). Four blocks are in the British Museum of London.

5. The Caryatid of the Erechtheion

The evocative arrangement of the ‘Porch of the Maidens’ in the New Acropolis Museum makes us miss in a particular way the only Caryatid on display in the British Museum of London. 6 marble Caryatids (architectonical supports in form of female draped statues) formed the southern porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis. Today 5 of them are in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens and 1, removed at the beginning of the XIX century together with the other ‘Elgin Marbles’, is in the British Museum of London. A marble ionic pillar from the eastern porch of the Erechtheion is also in the British Museum. 

6. The Rampin Horseman

The ‘Rampin Horseman’ is a marble male head of the Archaic Period found in 1877 on the Acropolis of Athens. It takes its name from Georges Rampin, the man who bought it. In 1896 Rampin left the head to the Museum of Louvre in Paris. Fragments from the same sculptural group had been found on the Acropolis in 1886, but their belonging to the same statue was noticed just in 1936.

The fragments discovered in 1886 are in the Acropolis Museum of Athens, while the male head is the the Louvre Museum of Paris.

7. The Lyons Kore

The ‘Lyons Kore’ is a female marble statue of the Archaic Period found on the Athenian Acropolis; it probably carried the function of a Caryatid, supporting an entablature on its head. The Lyons Kore was originally 1.13 metres tall.  
Nowadays the statue is divided in two parts: a 0.89 metres long fragment (lower part) is in the New Acropolis Museum of Athens and a 0.76 metres fragment (upper part) is in the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyons, after which the statue is named.

8. Architectural elements of the Propylaia

Some architectural elements of the Propylaia, monumental gateway of the Athenian Acropolis, were also removed and brought to London at the beginning of the XIX century. Today the Propylaia on the Acropolis has been partially restored.

The pieces in the British Museum of London could be reintegrated in the original structure of displayed in the New Acropolis Museum. 

9. The Statue of Athena Parthenos

The colossal statue of Athena Parthenos (‘Athena the Virgin’), made by Phidias, was located inside the Parthenon. Many replicas and works inspired to this sculpture have been created from the classical antiquity until today. Unlike the Parthenon Marbles, nothing of the statue has survived to present day. This is a great masterpiece that, unfortunately, the New Acropolis Museum will probably miss forever.

10. The Portrait of Lord Elgin

Provocatively, this top ten wish list of objects ends with a Portrait of Lord Elgin. The controversial memory of this man, responsible for the removal at the beginning of the 19th century of the marbles that were soon to be named after him, should have a place in the New Acropolis Museum. Should the artefacts in London be eventually brought back to Athens, his portrait could escort them and tell Prof. Pandermalis: "I am deeply sorry for the problems caused, it was meant to be just a short loan..."
 

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About The Author

Paolo Ciuchini (follow me: )

Paolo Ciuchini is a Dublin-based Italian archaeologist with a wide international experience. Today his interests reach far beyond his Postgraduate Specialization in Classical Archaeology, including topics like 'Archaeology & New Media' and 'Archaeological Practice in Europe'. He runs ArchaeoJobs, a blog whose aim is to deal with the Archaeological Profession in its European Dimension.