Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Classical Greece
The twin half-columns that once flanked a beehive tomb at Mycenae now herald the
beginning of the Greek antiquities. There's a lot of fabulous stuff in the first few rooms,
but the real highlights begin in room 15, whose centrepiece is the marble relief from
the
Harpy Tomb
, an imposing 30ft funerary pillar from Xanthos in Turkey. Its name
derived from the strange birdwomen which appear on two sides of the relief, carrying
children in their arms.
The most important monument from Xanthos can be seen, partially reconstructed, in
room 17. The fourth-century BC
Nereid Monument
is a mighty temple-like chieftain's
tomb, fronted with Ionic columns interspersed with figures, once identified as Nereids
(sea nymphs), now thought to be Aurae, or wind goddesses. The monument was
brought back from the BM's first overseas excavations in 1842 by Charles Fellows,
along with the greater part of the site's moveable art (including the Harpy Tomb relief ).
6
Elgin Marbles
Dull is the eye that will not weep to see
Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed
By British hands, which it had best behoved
To guard those relics ne'er to be restored.
Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,
And once again thy hapless bosom gored,
And snatch'd thy shrinking gods to northern climes abhorred!
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
, Lord Byron
The large, purpose-built room 18 houses the museum's most famous relics, the
Parthenon sculptures
, better known as the
Elgin Marbles
, after Lord Elgin, who
removed them from the Parthenon in Athens between 1801 and 1812. As British
ambassador, Elgin claimed he had permission from the Ottoman authorities (who
ruled Greece at the time) to remove them. There were justifications for Elgin's action -
a Venetian missile had caused considerable damage in 1687 when it landed on a pile of
gunpowder the Turks had thoughtfully stored there - though Byron was not the only
one to protest at the time. The Greek government has asked for the sculptures to be
sent back so they can be displayed, along with the rest of the sculptures, at the
Acropolis Museum in Athens - so far, to no avail.
The frieze and the statues
Despite their grand setting (and partly due to all the hype), first impressions of the
marble friezes, carved between 447 and 432 BC under the supervision of the sculptor
Pheidias
, can be a little disappointing. The long, repetitive queues of worshippers lack
the vigorous immediacy of high-relief sculptural friezes. To prepare yourself, head into
the adjacent interpretive rooms to learn more about the context of the marbles. The
main frieze, for example, would actually have been situated virtually out of sight
behind the first set of columns, and would originally have been picked out in red,
blue and gold paint.
Next, head into the main room for the tra
c jam of horsemen on the north frieze,
which exhibits superb compositional dexterity - it's worth remembering that the frieze is
carved to a depth of only two inches, yet manages to convey a much greater feeling of
THE BM HIGHLIGHTS
Assyrian reliefs
Ground floor, rooms 7-10
African galleries
Lower floor, room 25
Egyptian mummies
Upper floor, rooms
62-63
Elgin Marbles
Ground floor, room 18
Enlightenment
Ground floor, room 1
Lewis chessmen
Upper floor, room 40
Rosetta Stone
Ground floor, room 4
Sutton Hoo Treasure
Upper floor, room 41
