The actor George Clooney has voiced his support for returning the 2500 year old Parthenon Marble to its place of origin, Greece. This rose the excitement on the long pending debate over restoration of the work.
Greek Newspaper Ta Nea stated that Clooney recently told Janet Suzman, chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures that the marbles should be returned to its rightful owner. “There are indeed many objects of historical value that must be returned to their original owners,” Clooney is quoted as telling Suzman. “However, none of them is as important as the Marbles of the Parthenon.”
Clooney was referring to the sculptures by their original site at the Parthenon, in Athens, rather than by the name of Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, who removed the sculptures and sold them to the British government two centuries ago. They have long resided at the British Museum and have been known as the Elgin Marbles ever since. “The Parthenon Sculptures must be returned to their original owner,” he said.
Clonney has confidence that the Parthenon Marble will be returned to its rightful owner in the future and stated that “This piece of art has been split in half and at some point they will be joined back together,”
At that time, Clooney’s wife, Anglo-Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin-Clooney, was advising the Greek government on its efforts to reclaim the marbles. The Greek government ended up turning down her suggestion to take the British to the International Court.
British officials have argued that Athens cannot sufficiently display the treasures. The Greeks have since built a world-class exhibition space in view of the Acropolis for that purpose.
Clooney has directed and starred in a movie about a group of Allied experts tasked with saving artworks and other cultural treasures from destruction or theft by the Nazis during World War II called Monuments Men in 2014.