Bones of contention

All over the world, scholarly folk look to Neil MacGregor — who writes opposite — to hold the line.

All over the world, scholarly folk look to Neil MacGregor — who writes opposite — to hold the line. If the British Museum gave in and sent the Elgin Marbles air freight to Athens, a massive wave of demands for restitution would descend on the museums of the Western world.

The sad fact is that very large numbers of antiquities reached our cultural institutions by means that were highly dubious. In recent decades, many have been illegally excavated and smuggled on to the art market. An ex-antiquities curator at the Getty is currently on trial in Italy on charges arising from that trade. Last February, the Metropolitan Museum agreed to return 21 prized antiquities to Italy, including a celebrated vase signed by the painter Euphronios. It is unlikely to be the last such surrender.