The Elgin Marbles could return to Greece on loan from the British Museum using the blueprint of the Bayeux Tapestry partnership which has finally brought the 1,000 year old artefact to the UK.
It is hoped the delicate cultural diplomacy between France and the UK which resulted in the 230 foot tapestry travelling to the UK for the exhibition which starts next month could be replicated by a similar deal with Greece.
That could mean the much disputed sculptures, which once adorned the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens and were carved in the fifth century BC, could go on display in the city for the first time since they were brought to the UK by Lord Elgin in the early 1800s.
British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan said the success of the partnership with France to bring the tapestry over for the forthcoming historic exhibition offered a ‘glimmer of possibility to move forwards’ on the Elgin Marbles because it had taken several attempts to secure.
‘I would hope that some tangible progress can happen. It would be a wonderful thing,’ said Mr Cullinan, who has overseen the return of the tapestry which famously depicts the Battle of Hastings and the Norman invasion for the exhibition which opens on September 10.
He told the Financial Times that while there was no ‘cookie cutter template’ for dealing with every piece of cultural history or relationship, its return was ‘a very compelling example of international partnership’ that pointed to the success of ‘reciprocal exchange’.
His comments follow Andy Burnham’s apparent volte face on the marbles this week in saying their fate was in the hands of the British Museum having once backed a bill to return them to Greece.
He previously strongly advocated their return, backing a 2002 Private Members’ Bill to do so and writing on social media that they should be sent back with ‘no strings attached’.
The Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, could return to Greece on loan from the British Museum using the blueprint of the Bayeux Tapestry partnership
British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan said the success of the Bayeux Tapestry partnership offered a ‘glimmer of possibility to move forwards’ on the Elgin Marbles
In July, the Bayeux Tapestry arrived in London after a hugely complicated journey to leave France for the first time in more than 900 years
But he appeared to backtrack this week when he said that it was ‘ultimately an issue for the British Museum’.
He said: ‘Legally that’s where that issue rests, but I’m all in favour of using British cultural diplomacy.’
Mr Burnham is among generations of politicians who have debated the future of the marbles in a row which at times has threatened to turn into a full-blown diplomatic crisis.
His crowning as PM prompted the Greek paper Ta Nea to ask whether Mr Burnham would be ‘Greece’s strongest ally yet in Downing Street’.
Greece claims they were illegally removed from the Acropolis and should be returned home permanently where they can be displayed next to the other portion of the Parthenon frieze they made up.
But the UK government has warned that could set a dangerous precedent for artefacts held in museums worldwide.
Mr Cullinan, who took over as the British Museum’s director in 2024, and formerly headed the National Portrait Gallery, has previously warned there could be ‘unintended consequences’ if the British Museum Act 1963 were amended to allow artefacts in its possession to be permanently removed.
But he said that the museum would ‘always remain open for dialogue’ about the sculptures, gifted by the British government to the trusteeship of the museum in 1816 after they were bought from Lord Elgin.
This week, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has backtracked on supporting the Elgin Marbles being handed back to Greece
The museum has previously said that some artefacts, including the Elgin Marbles, ‘may be loaned as part of our commitment to increase national and international loans‘.
Such a loan is not abnormal with around 1,630 other objects from the museum’s eight million-strong collection on long-term loan nationally last year.
Greece made its first formal request for the permanent return of the Elgin Marbles in 1983.
Former PM Sir Keir Starmer suggested they could be part of an antiquities loan agreement and, back in 2021, it emerged that former Tory chancellor George Osborne, then chairman of the British Museum, had had secret talks over the marbles’ return with Greece.
Meanwhile final preparations are underway for the display of the Bayeux Tapestry, believed to have been embroidered by nuns in England in the 11th century, in what will be the biggest and most expensive exhibition in the museum’s 273 year history.
It will run until next July and it is expected, if successful, to go some way to restore the museum’s damaged reputation under its previous director when over 2000 items were stolen.
In a reciprocal arrangement, treasures including ones from the Sutton Hoo Anglo Saxon burial ship and the 12th century carved Lewis Chessmen, discovered on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, will travel to France to be exhibited.
The first ticket release for the tapestry exhibition sold out in a day, raising £2.5 million for the museum.
A standard adult ticket costs £33, while under-16s go free. The exhibition is being sponsored by hedge-fund billionaire Igor Tulchinsky in a deal valued at £5m.
Defending the prices, Mr Cullinan said the museum had ‘thought long and hard’ about prices and hoped to turn a profit on the exhibition.
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