The Elgin Marbles

The Elgin Marbles are a collection of ancient sculptures, chiefly from the Acropolis at Athens.

About the year 1801, when Greece was under Turkish sway, they were obtained at great trouble and expense by Thomas, seventh Earl of Elgin, and transferred to England. They were purchased by the English Government in 1816, and are now in the British Museum.

Those most appreciated are slabs of marble, with figures in relief, which constituted the frieze of the cell of the Parthenon; and fifteen metopes representing the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithae.

The figures, mostly equestrian, represent the grand procession in honor of Minerva, which took place once in five years.

This series of sculptures was executed by Phidias and by other Greek sculptors under his direction.

Casts of the marbles are well known to students of art.