We have our own debate with james cuno the president and director of the art institute of chicago and author of the recent book who owns antiquity.
James cuno and parthenon marbles.
Cuno has no beef with returning stolen art.
As any who have read this book will know it takes pretty much the opposite viewpoint to james cuno s new book on the ownership of cultural property.
Representing the anti restitution side of the museum establishment in the usa he has been one of the most outspoken critics of the return of artefacts.
But of course it would.
The promise of muse.
Should they be returned to greece.
Unlike the churches and mosques that foreign powers built on the acropolis which were subsequently removed by the newly independent greek government the marbles are physically integral to the parthenon itself.
Almost half the sculpted marbles on the parthenon were taken by lord elgin ambassador to constantinople in the early 1800s and soon after sold james cuno whose culture.
We have our own debate with james cuno the president and director of the art institute of.
Cuno scoffs at athens insistence that returning the marbles would restore the unity of the parthenon.
We have learnt not to call them the parthenon marbles.
Instead his article focuses on what he considers to be an entirely different class of ancient objects that includes the parthenon marbles.
The works of phidias were completed in 432 b c but it might be argued that the parthenon marbles were created in 1687 when that shell turned the parthenon into a husk and many of its.
James cuno has personal experience of the current scramble empowered by aggressive nationalism to claw back a multitude of.
He tells only part of the.
Hitchens cuno debate the fate of the parthenon marbles arts.
Jul 31 2009 3 18 pm edt.
James cuno will be a familiar figure to long time readers of this blog.
Ownership necessarily betrays historical balances of power says james cuno art curator historian and president and ceo of the getty trust.
Museums and the battle over ancient heritage and christopher hitchens columnist for vanity fair and author of the book the parthenon marbles.
The case for restitution watch the debate here.
A getty spokeswoman said cuno s article which criticizes unesco was commissioned quite some time ago and not spurred by recent parthenon marbles developments which also include george.
What cuno writes about the parthenon marbles and about nefertiti can be easily ignored.