An Etruscan Lord Elgin

In a compelling twist, Michael Kimmelman shows how Italy winning back the Krater makes a good argument for the British Museum keeping the Parthenon Marbles:

Stolen property is stolen property. But how curious that an ancient Greek vase, which centuries after it was made came into the possession of an Etruscan collector (a kind of ancient Elgin) living on what is now the outskirts of Rome, and then ended up buried for thousands of years below what became modern Italy, is today Italian cultural patrimony. By that definition, Elgin’s loot is arguably British patrimony.

NYT: Culture’s Borders

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