Greece lends ancient Athena statue to Italy after Parthenon gesture

Ancient marble work was found during excavations near the Parthenon in Athens

The ancient marble work of the goddess Athena was found during excavations near the Parthenon Temple. Alamy

Greece has lent Italy a statue of the goddess Athena, which will be displayed at a Sicilian museum for four years, in return for Rome’s long-term loan to Athens of a fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

The ancient marble work was found during excavations near the Parthenon Temple, dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, and belongs to the Acropolis Museum.

Meanwhile, under an agreement made in January, the fragment will stay in Athens for a maximum of eight years but the ultimate aim, Italian and Greek officials said, is its “indefinite return” to Greece.

Greece hopes that the loan of the Italian fragment will boost its campaign for the return from London of the British Museum's part of the Parthenon Sculptures.

Around half of the surviving 5th century BC works were taken in the early 19th century by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin, and remain in London despite repeated Greek requests for their repatriation. It has led to a heated dispute between Greece and the UK over the status of the sculptures, a 160-metre frieze that ran around the outer walls of the Parthenon.

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, speaking in Palermo, described the works in London as “the proceeds of theft” by Elgin.

“Greece recognises no rights of ownership or possession” to the works by the British Museum, she said. The deal with Italy showed a "path that London can follow”, she said.

The British Museum says that the sculptures were legitimately acquired by Elgin from Turkish authorities when Greece was still under occupation by the Ottoman Empire.

The Italian fragments were formerly in the collection of 19th century British diplomat Robert Fagan before being purchased by the University of Palermo after 1818.