Carved between 447 and 432 BC under the direction of the sculptor Pheidias to adorn the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, the Elgin Marbles comprise a continuous 160-metre frieze of the Panathenaic procession, ninety-two high-relief metopes, and the figures of the two pediments. Roughly half of the surviving ensemble was removed in the early 19th century with Ottoman authorisation by the British ambassador Lord Elgin. The sculptures are simultaneously the apex of Classical Greek art and the best-known focus of the long-running debate over the restitution of cultural heritage.

Exhibition Venue

British Museum

London Borough of Camden, United Kingdom