Arundelian Marbles

Arundelian, or Oxford, Marbles is a name given to a collection of inscribed and sculptured marbles discovered by Mr (afterwards Sir William) Petty and John Evelyn, who were employed by the Earl of Arundel to collect marbles, books, statues, and other curiosities, in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Some of these marbles have very important inscriptions on them, such as the "Parian Chronicle," so called because it is supposed to have been made in the island of Paros, about 263 B.C., which gives Greek dates from 1582 B.C. down to that time, a series of 1,318 years. They reached London in the year 1627, and were placed in the gardens of the Arundel House. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, the founder of the collection, was born in 1586, and died in Padua in 1646. He resided for many years of his early life in Italy, and there acquired a strong taste for works of art, and began his collection, which consisted not only of the marbles in the Oxford Museum which bear his name, but also of coins, busts, statues, and gems.

During the turbulent reign of Charles I. the house of Arundel was often deserted, and the fine art-collection suffered: some of the marbles were defaced, some stolen, some broken, and some even carried away for architectural purposes. After the death of the collector, what remained was divided among his family. This collection when entire consisted of 37 statues, 128 busts, and 250 inscribed marbles, besides altars, sarcophagi, fragments, and gems. In 1667 Henry Howard, grandson of Thomas Howard, presented what are now called the Arundelian Marbles to the University of Oxford.

These marbles excited great curiosity in England among literary men. Selden published a small volume including thirty-nine inscriptions with translations. His researches were continued by Prideaux (1676), Maittaire (1732), and Chandler (1763).