A small, symbolic exhibition about Lord Byron, related to Lord Elgin’s seizure of the Parthenon’s architectural sculptures, is on display at the Acropolis Museum.
On the occasion of 200 years since Lord Byron’s deaththe Acropolis Museum commemorates him with a small, symbolic exhibition, relating to Lord Elgin’s seizure of the Parthenon’s architectural sculptures. Lord Byron’s last words before he died are said to have been about Greece: “…I gave her time (time) my health, my presence and now I give her my life. What more could I do?’
And yet, as the short presentation on ground floor foyer of the Acropolis Museum, Byron left behind something unexpected, which contributes eloquently and powerfully to the argument for the return and reunification of architectural sculptures of the Parthenon. This is his passport Byrona real Sultan’s firman, which allowed him to travel in the territories of the Ottoman Empire.
The firman-passport of Byron, offers yet another opportunity to discuss and refute the argument of the alleged existence of Elgin’s “firman”, which supposedly allowed him to remove the sculptures from the Parthenon. In addition to the firman, visitors to the Museum will have the opportunity to see the Exodus of Messolonghi (1827) which inspired many painters, such as the signatory Louis Joseph Toussaint Rossignon.
The three sections of the report and publication
a) a selection of memorialized images of travelers from the Acropolis and the Parthenon (Carrey, Dodwell, Fauvel, Pars, etc.), before Lord Byron and the looting of the monument by Elgin to the establishment of the Neo-Hellenic state and the establishment of archaeological site of the Acropolis in 1834, as can be seen in the video of the exhibition, b) short biographical note and excerpts from Byron’s poems “The Curse of Athena” and “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, which refer to the barbaric removal and destruction of of the Parthenon’s architectural sculptures by Elgin and their insidious seizure and subsequent removal and c) Byron’s original passport, a surprising genuine official sultanic document on display for the first time in the Museum, re-discussing the argument for the return and reunification of the Parthenon sculptures.
The exhibition “Parthenon and Byron. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Byron” will be opened for the visitors of the Acropolis Museum on Friday, April 26, 2024. No ticket is required to enter the ground floor foyer of the Museum. The bilingual edition (Greek-English) will be available at the Museum Shop from Monday, April 29, 2024.
Tags: Lord Byrons Argument Parthenon Sculptures
