Evening star., 1927-08-23
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

were of Turkish origin and Turkey
had not been the legal government of
the territory in which they were
found at the period Of the excava-
tions.
If the same reasoning were applied
to the case Of Lord Elgin and his
precious Phidias statues, etc, taken
from Greek territory while it was
under Turkish domination, why
should not Greece now recover from
| collection? Does the century Of pos.
session outlaw Greek rights? Or II
the rule applied to all Europe. what
a shifting back there would be of all
art treasures taken by Napoleon from
Italy, Germany, Austria and other
conquered lands!
The Louvre would even lose that
most famous Venus de Milo, the
noblest statue of the Goddess of Love
in existence. 1t was found on the
island of Melos. in 1820-a few years
before the Greeks regained their indie.
pendence from Turkey. The finders
did not comprehend it's superlative
Value, and in order to impress the
market with its great antiquity they
purposely broke its base. Then they
sea II to the French Ambassador to
Constantinople, who forwarded 1t as
a present to his King, Louis XVIII.
No money could purchase it from
france. but it was found in Greece.
hence Greece might claim tin vain.
In 1917 Greece heard that one
| Thalia Arabic had brought to the
United States classic marble head
| OF Hygieia, Goddess of Health. and
Secretary OF State Lansing received a.
olplomatlc request for it's capture and
return to Greece. He undertook to
cooperate and comply with the re.
quest, on the ground that, under the
| Greek laws, the statue belonged to
the Greek government. 1t was found
at the metropolitan Museum. but ex-
perts pronounced it not genuine and
OF little value. so the Greek govern
ment requested the museum to retain
II as loan. 1t Is there yet, but orr
government established it's precedent
IN recognizing our duty to refuse to
De a fence" for smuggled classics.
When the Paramount Theater was
putt In New York, few wears ago
the builders undertook to get stones
| from every country in the world to
ouiio INTO the walls. Such a request
wac made of Greece, and a stone
was received with an ACCOMMODATING
letter of apology because the stone
sent did not show the slightest mark.
ing to indicate that it was an ANTIQUE.
1t was explained that the laws for.
bade send1ny any such stone, bear.
ing ancient inscriptions out of the
country. Yet within Greece the ma.
t1Ves have used ancient stones bear
ing important inscriptions, in the
building of their homes and outbuild.
ings, or as fence posts. The Govern
ment consoled the New York Para.
mount Theater with statement that
the stone sent it had been taken from
the early theater standing next to
the Acropolis, though there was no
inscription on 1t to prove that.
X aA*
After all, what a Homecoming
there would be if all the antique art
could be gathered in it's original
birthplace! For many years in Dres-
den there stood headless statue Of
| marble; It's torso suggested a possible
| replica, on reduced scale, of the
stately statue. of Athena erected by
| Phidias upon the Acropolis in honor
of the Lemnians. But she was head.
| less. and it takes a cultured knowl.
| edge or art to appreciate lies mu-
tiles" Down in Bologna there was a
marble head-evidently a fine bit of
| antique sculpture. Some one took
plaster cast of its broken neck, and,
| 10, it fitted every niche in the broken
neck up in Dresden. Now head and
body are joined together and "let no
man put asunder," for that is an.
other lost Phidias! Not even a
Michelangelo has ever surpassed the
ancient Greek art of the first to the
| fifth centuries, B. c.
/ The Venus de Milo is considered
by many critics the noblest marble
in existence. yet 1t Is not a Phidias.
nor even of the height Of Grecian
art glory, but a product Of Grecian
| dacadence--about 100, B. c. Never
| equaled by Rome in all its glory! No
wonder Greece is jealously safeguard.
| ing the proofs of her artistic su
premacy.
iCopyright. 1927. By Paul v. Collinsl