The Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum

In the early part of the 19th century sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens were removed from the Acropolis under the direction of the Earl of Elgin, then the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which at the time included Greece. The sculptures were brought to Britain, finding their way to the British Museum in London in 1816, where they are viewed by millions of museum visitors annually. A debate has long simmered as to whether the Parthenon Marbles, which date from the 5th century BCE, should be returned to Athens or remain in the United Kingdom. Elements of the debate include questions about: the legitimacy of the initial relocation of the statuary; the quasi-legal impact of more than 200 years of British stewardship; the insurance role for dispersal of art; and, the influence on other art and museums of a precedent that might be established by return of the Parthenon Marbles.

This paper, prepared on the eve of the bicentennial of the British Museum’s acquisition of the Marbles, surveys the arguments on both sides of the debate. A law and economics lens is employed to examine the “property dispute” surrounding the Marbles. Coase-like reasoning is applied to the question of the “highest-valued” location of the Marbles, supplemented with behavioral economics concepts involving national identity and endowment effects. The benefits of “encyclopedic” museums such as the British Museum are explored, along with how such museums would be affected by a norm for wider “return” of cultural property. The paper concludes by identifying the contours of a potentially Pareto-improving agreement that would result in the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.