. y' . i THE ELGIN MARBLES FROM THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA AT ATHENS: ON SIXTY-ONE PLATES, SELECTED FROM “ STUARTS AND REVETT’S ANTIQUITIES OF ATHENS.” TO WHICH ARE ADDED, Wiyt Report from tfjc Select Committer THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, RESPECTING THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF SCULPTURED MARBLES, AND AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE TEMPLE. LONDON: PRINTED BY J. MOYES, GREVILLE STREET, FOR J. TAYLOR, AT THE ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. M.DCCC.XVI. . ■ ■ .. . ' - - . ■ • r • ' - • ■ . • . . • . ■ ADVERTISEMENT. The great celebrity of the Sculptured Marbles recently brought into England by the Earl of Elgin, which formed the most interest- ing department of his Museum, and have recently become national property, induced the Publisher of this volume to gratify the curiosity of the Public, by selecting from the second and fourth volumes of Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens all the Plates which repre- sent the remarkably fine Sculpture of the celebrated Parthenon, generally supposed to be the work of Phidias, the most renowned of the Sculptors of Antiquity, hut which were certainly executed under his direction and superintendence. The great interest these speci- mens of ancient art have excited for several years past in the breast of every lover of the Fine Arts, has been shown by the anxiety of the Public to inspect the Museum, and by the very strong desire universally expressed, that it should become national property, and that it may be constantly open for public inspection, as well for the gratification of the learned Antiquary as for the improvement of Students in every branch of the Fine Arts. The representations, therefore, of such chaste and spirited Sculpture must he particularly interesting to all persons of taste, who have not had the satisfaction of seeing the Originals, hut also to those, who, having seeh them, are better enabled to appreciate their merits. A short history of the Parthenon, selected from Stuart s Work, and the Parliamentary Report respecting the Marbles, are given, that the Public may be amply informed of the high estimation in which they are held by the best judges, both amateurs and professors : and IV ADVERTISEMENT. we ought not to pass unnoticed the great expense and exertion necessary in bringing these bulky and ponderous Marbles to Eng- land ; which certainly could not have been accomplished but for the train of fortunate and splendid events, which for so many years attended the arms of this country in certain quarters of the Turkish empire. The highest praise and sincerest thanks are due from an enlightened Public to Lord Elgin, for stepping forward at the critical moment, and rescuing these precious remains of ancient art from the destroying hand of time, and from the more destroying hand of an uncivilized people. It is not too much to say, that however valuable and interesting the other parts of this noble Museum may be, yet the Sculptures of the Temple of Minerva form the principal and most important feature, as well lor intrinsic merit as for number : and if this Volume should meet with suitable encouragement, it may induce the Publisher to proceed with the remaining part of the Collection. The Plates of the Theseus or Hercules, the Ilyssus or River u God, and the Horse’s Head, have been engraved for this Volume, from Drawings kindly furnished by F. L. Chantrey, Esq. The superior excellence of these Statues made it absolutely necessary that their merits should be particularly exhibited. The grace, elegance, and truth ot outline, with the high finishing of these Sculptures, have caused them to be classed superior to the finest examples remaining of ancient art, not excepting the Apollo Bel- videre, or the Torso. These Etchings, it is hoped, will afford some suitable ideas of the superior form and grace of the Originals ; although to represent their exquisite finishing is perhaps beyond the power of the graver. It may be proper here to observe, that some of the Drawings, from which these Plates were etched, were made by Stuart, and by Parrs, fifty years ago, under circumstances far different some ADVERTISEMENT. v from those under which the original Marbles are now exhibited to public and close inspection. Access into the Acropolis could not then be obtained without much difficulty and circumspection; and the buildings having been appropriated entirely, or in part, to military or religious purposes, a close investigation of them was rendered a business of some risk, and great delicacy ; the ever jealous eye of the Turks being always on the watch to guard against surprise, or the purloining of any hidden treasure, the only motives they could imagine sufficiently powerful to bring persons from a distant country, and at a large expense. It was, therefore, oftentimes not without con- siderable risk that proper access could be had for the purpose of making the Drawings : and much praise is due to the perseverance of the draftsmen, which has produced them with so much accuracy. We must not, therefore, be surprised if a few trivial inaccuracies may he discovered by a closer and more deliberate investigation. . M'M . ■ . . report FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION SCULPTURED MARBLES, &c. CONTENTS. ( / H. <( Report* ••• .......... Minutes of Evidence • The Earl of Elgin The Right Honourable Charles Long William Hamilton, Esq. Joseph Nollekens, Esq. R. A John Flaxman; Esq. R. A. Richard Westmacott, Esq. R. A. Francis Chantery, Esq. Charles Rossi, Esq. R. A.. • • • Sir Thomas Lawrence, Knt. R. A. Richard Payne Knight, Esq.. William Wilkins, Esq. Taylor Combe, Esq. .' The Earl of Aberdeen John Bacon Sawrey Morritt, Esq. - John Nicholas Fazakenley, Esq. Alexander Day, Esq. Rev. Dr. Philip Hunt, LL. D. Questions sent to Benjamin West, Esq., with the Answers. Page 1 — 12 13 ... 13 — 20 21 ... 22 — 26 ••• 27 — 28 • •• 28 — 32 • •• 32—33 ... 33 — 34 ... 34 — 35 . .. 35 — 36 • • - 36 — 41 ... 41—45 ... 45 — 46 . 46 — 50 . .. 50 — 52 ••• 52 — 53 . 53 — 54 • •• 55 — 58 ... 58 — 60 APPENDIX. No. 2. Letter from Lord Elgin to the Right Honourable N. Vansittart, accompanying his Petition to the House of Commons .. ^ _ Page 6l No. 3 — Memorandum, as to Lord Elgin’s exclusive right of Property in the Collection of Marbles ib. No. 4 Memorandum, as to the delay in transferring Lord Elgin's Collection to the Public 62 No. 5. Copy of a Letter addressed by Lord Elgin to the Right Honourable Charles Long, in 1811 ; with a Postscript added February 1816, enumerating Expenses, &c g 3 gg No. 6 — Letter from Lord Elgin to Henry Bankes, Esq. enumerating Expenses 66 No. 7—Copy of a Letter from Charles Townley, Esq. to J. Harrison, Esq. on the Subject of Lord Elgin's Marbles 67 No. 8.— Translation of a Letter from the Cavalier Canova to the Earl of Elgin g 8 No. s— Extract of a Despatch from his Excellency thd Earl of Elgin to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Constantinople . . No. 10- Translation of a Fermaun to the Vaivode, or Governor of Athens, in 1801 Catalogue of the Elgin Marbles, Vases, Casts, and Drawings, prepared from the MS. of M. Visconti 70- ib. ib. 74, EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 3 ing foreigners into their country, and of having money spent among them. The Turks showed a total indifference and apathy as to the preservation of these remains, except when in a fit of wanton destruction they sometimes carried their disregard so far as to do mischief by firing at them. The numerous travellers and admirers of the Arts committed greater waste, from a very different motive; for many of those who visited the Acropolis tempted the soldiers, and other people about the fortress, to bring them down heads, legs, or arms, or whatever other pieces they could carry off. A translation of the fermaun itself has since been forwarded by Dr. Hunt , which is printed in the Appendix. II. Upon the Second Division, it must be premised, that antecedently to Lord Elgin s departure for Constantinople, he communicated his intentions of bringing home casts and drawings from Athens, for the benefit and advancement of the Fine Arts in this country, to Mr. Pitt, Lord Grenville, and Mr. Dundas, suggesting to them the pro- priety of considering it as a national object, fit to be undertaken, and carried into effect at the public expense; but that this recommendation was in no degree en- couraged, either at that time or afterwards. It is evident, from a letter of Lord Elgin to the Secretary of State, 13 January 3803, that he considered himself as having no sort of claim for his disbursements in the prosecution of these pursuits, though he stated, in the same despatch, the heavy expenses in which they had involved him, so as to make it extremely inconvenient for him to forego any of the usual allowances to which Ambassadors at other courts were entitled. It cannot, therefore, be doubted, that he looked upon himself in this respect as acting in a character entirely distinct from his official situation. But whether the Government from whom he obtained permission did, or could so consider him, is a question which can be solved only by conjecture and reasoning, in the absence and deficiency of all positive testimony. The Turkish ministers of that day are, in fact, the only persons in the world capable (if they are still alive) of deciding the doubt ; and it is probable that even they, if it were possible to consult them, might be unable to form any very distinct discrimination as to the character in consideration of which they acceded to Lord Elgin s request. The occasion made them, beyond all prece- dent, propitious to whatever was desired in behalf of the English nation : they readily, therefore, complied with all that was asked by Lord Elgin. He was an Englishman of high rank; he was also Ambassador from our Court: they granted the same per-* mission to no other individual : but then, as Lord Elgin observes, no other individual applied for it to the same extent, nor had indeed the same unlimited means for carrying such an undertaking into execution. The expression of one of the most intelligent and distinguished of the British travellers, who visited Athens about the same period- appears to your Committee to convey as correct a judgment as can be formed upon this question, which is incapable of being satisfactorily separated, and must be taken in the aggregate. The Earl of Aberdeen, in answer to an inquiry, whether the authority and influence of a public situation was in his opinion necessary for accomplishing the removal of 2 REPORT PROM SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE The other five artists were withdrawn from Athens in January 1803, but Lusieri has continued there ever since, excepting during the short period of our hostilities with the Ottoman Porte. During the year 1800, Egypt was in the power of the French : and that sort of contempt and dislike which has always characterized the Turkish government and people in their behaviour towards every denomination of Christians, prevailed in full force. The success of the British arms in Egypt, and the expected restitution of that province to the Porte, wrought a wonderful and instantaneous change in the dispo- sition of all ranks and descriptions of people towards our Nation. Universal benevolence and good-will appeared to take place of suspicion and aversion. Nothing was refused which was asked ; and Lord Elgin, availing himself of this favourable and unexpected alteration, obtained, in the summer of 1801, access to the Acropolis for general purposes, with permission to draw, model, and remove; to which was added, a special license to excavate in a particular place. Lord Elgin mentions in his evidence, that he was obliged to send from Athens to Constantinople for leave to remove a house : at the same time remarking, that, in point of fact, all permissions issuing from the Porte to any distant provinces, are little better than authorities to make the best bargain that can be made with the local magistracies. The applications upon this subject passed in verbal conversations ; but the warrants or fermauns were granted in writing, addressed to the chief authorities resident at Athens, to whom they were delivered, and in whose hands they remained : so that your Committee had no opportunity of learning from Lord Elgin himself their exact tenor, or of ascertaining in what terms they noticed, or allowed the displacing, or carrying away of these Marbles. But Dr. Hunt, who accompanied Lord Elgin as chaplain to the embassy, has preserved, and has now in his possession, a translation of the second fermaun, Which extended the powers of the first ; but as he had it not with him in London, to produce before your Committee, he stated the substance, according to his recollection, which was, “ That, in order to show their particular respect to the Ambassador of “ Great Britain, the august Ally of the Porte, with whom they were now and had Ion tit 5 EARL OF ELGIN'S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. close imitation of nature is combined with grandeur of Style, while the exact details of the former in no degree detract from the etfect and predominance of the latter. The two finest single figures of this Collection differ materially in this respect from the Apollo Belvidere, which may be selected as the highest and most sublime repre- sentation of ideal form, and beauty, which Sculpture has ever embodied, and turned into shape. The evidence upon this part of the inquiry will be read with satisfaction and inte- rest, both where it is immediately connected with these Marbles, and where it branches out into extraneous observations, but all of them relating to the study of the Antique. A reference is made by one of the witnesses to a sculptor, eminent throughout Europe for his works, who lately left this Metropolis highly gratified by the view of these trea- sures of that branch of Art, which he has cultivated with so much success. His own letter to the Earl of Elgin upon this subject is inserted in the Appendix. In the judgment of Mr. Payne Knight, whose valuation will be referred to m a subsequent page, the first class is not assigned to the two principal statues of this Col- lection ; but he rates the Metopes in the first class of works in High Relief, and knows of nothing so fine in that kind. He places also the Frize in the first class of Low Relief; and considering a general Museum of Art to be very desirable, he looks upon such an addition to our National Collection as likely to contribute to the improvement of the Arts, and to become a very valuable acquisition ; for the importation of which Lord Elgin is entitled to the gratitude of his Country. IV. The directions of the House in the order of reference imposes upon your Committee the task of forming and submitting an opinion upon the Fourth Head, which other- wise the scantiness of materials for fixing a pecuniary Value, and the unwillingness, or inability in those who are practically most conversant in Statuary to afford any lights upon this part of the subject, would have rather induced them to decline. The produce of this Collection, if it should be brought to sale in separate lots, in the present depreciated state of almost every article, and more particularly of such as are of precarious and fanciful value, would probably be much inferior to what may be denominated its intrinsic value. The mutilated state of all the larger Figures, the want either of heads or features, of limbs or surface, in most of the Metopes, and in a great proportion of the Compart- ments even of the larger Frize, render this Collection, if divided, but little adapted to serve for the decoration of private houses. It should therefore be considered as form- ing a Whole, and should unquestionably be kept entire as a School of Art, and a Study for the formation of Artists. The competitors in the market, if it should be offered for sale without separation, could not be numerous. Some of the Sovereigns of Europe, added to such of the great Galleries or national Institutions in various parts of Lhe Continent as may possess funds at the disposal of their directors, sufficient tor such a purpose, would in all probability be the only purchasers. It is not, however, reasonable, nor becoming the liberality of Parliament, to withhold, upon this account, whatever, under all the circumstances, may be deemed a just and i i '» - t £ REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE these Marbles, answered, that he did not think a private individual could have accom- plished the removal of the remains which Lord Elgin obtained : and Doctor Hunt, who had better opportunities of information upon this point than any other person who has been examined, gave it as his decided opinion, that “ a British subject not m the situation of Ambassador, could not have been able to obtain from the Turkish Government a fermaun of such extensive powers.” It may not be unworthy of remark, that the only other piece of Sculpture which was ever removed from its place for the purpose of export, was taken by Mr. Choiseul Gouffier, when he was Ambassador from France to the Porte ; but whether he did it by express permission, or in some less ostensible way, no means of ascertaining are within the reach of your Committee. It was undoubtedly at various times an object with the French Government to obtain possession of some of these valuable remains; and it is probable, according to the testimony of Lord Aberdeen and others, that at no great distance of time they might have been removed by that government from their original site, if they had not been taken away, and secured for this country, by Lord Elgin. III. The Third Part is involved in much less intricacy : and although in all matters of Taste there is room for great variety and latitude of opinion, there will be found upon this branch of the subject much more uniformity and agreement than could have been expected. The testimony of several of the most eminent Artists in this kingdom, who have been examined, rates these Marbles in the very first class of ancient art, some placing them a little above, and others but very little below, the Apollo Belvidere, the Laocoon, and the Torso of the Belvidere. They speak of them with admiration and enthusiasm ; and notwithstanding the manifold injuries of time and weather, and those mutilations which they have sustained from the fortuitous, or designed injuries of neglect, or mischief, they consider them as among the finest models, and the most exquisite monuments of antiquity. The general current of this portion of the evidence makes no doubt of referring the date of these works to the original building of the Parthenon, and to the designs of Phidias, the dawn of every thing which adorned and ennobled Greece. With this estimation of the excellence of these works, it is natural to conclude that they are recommended by the same authorities as highly fit, and admirably adapted to form a school for study, to improve our national taste for the Fine Arts, and to diffuse a more perfect knowledge of them throughout this kingdom. Much indeed may be reasonably hoped and expected, from the general observa- tion, and admiration of such distinguished examples. The end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries, enlightened by the discovery of several of the noblest remains of antiquity, produced in Italy an abundant harvest of the most eminent men, who made gigantic advances in the path of Art, as Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Caught by the novelty, attracted by the beauty, and enamoured of the perfection of those newly disclosed treasures, they imbibed the genuine spirit of ancient excellence, and transfused it into their own compositions. It is surprising to observe in the best of these Marbles in how great a degree the EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, tec. 7 Mr. Vaxine Knight amounting; to ,£.25,000; and that of Mr. Hamilton to £. 60 , 800 . The only other sum mentioned as a money price, is in the evidence of the Earl of Aberdeen , who named £.35,000, as a sort of conjectural estimate of the whole, without entering into particulars. In addition to the instances of prices quoted in Mr. Payne Knight’s evidence, the sums paid for other celebrated Marbles deserve to be brought under the notice of the House. The Townley Collection, which was purchased for the British Museum in June 1805, for £.20,000, is frequently referred to in the examinations of the witnesses, with some variety of opinion as to its intrinsic value: but it is to be observed of all the principal Sculptures in that .Collection, that they were in excellent condition, with the surface perfect; and where injured, they were generally well restored, and perfectly adapted for the decoration, and almost for the ornamental furniture of a private house, as they were indeed disposed by Mr. Townley in his lifetime. In what proportion the state of mutilation in which the Elgin Marbles are left, and above all the corrosion of much of the surface by weather, reduce their value, it is difficult precisely to ascertain : but it may unquestionably be affirmed, in the words of one of the Sculptors examined, (who rates these Works in the highest class of Art,) that “ the Townleyan Marbles being entire, are, in a commercial point of view, the most valuable of the two : but that the Elgin Marbles, as possessing that matter which Artists most require, claim a higher consideration.” The fEgina Marbles, which are also referred to, and were well known to one of the Members of Your Committee, who was. in treaty to purchase them for the British Museum, sold for £.6,000, to the Prince Royal of Bavaria, which was less than the British Government had directed to be offered, after a prior negotiation for obtaining them had failed: their real value, however, was supposed not to exceed £.4,000 ; at which Lusieri estimated them. They are described as valuable in point of remote antiquity, and curious in that respect, but of no distinguished merit as specimens of Sculpture, their style being what is usually called Etruscan, and older than the age of Phidias. The Marbles at Phigalia, in Arcadia, have lately been purchased for the Museum at the expense of £15,000, increased by a very unfavourable exchange to £19,000, a sum which your Committee, after inspecting them, ventured to consider as more than equal to their value. It is true that an English gentleman, concerned in discovering them, was ready to give the same sum ; and therefore no sort of censure can attach on those who pur- chased them abroad, for our national Gallery, without any possible opportunity of viewing and examining the sculpture, but knowing them only from the sketches which were sent over, and the place where they were dug up, to be undoubted and authen- tic remains of Greek artists of the best time. When the first offer was made by the Earl of Elgin to Mr. Percival, of putting the Public in possession of this Collection, Mr. Long, a member of your Committee, was authorized by Mr. Percival to acquaint Lord Elgin, that he was willing to propose to 6 REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE adequate price ; and more particularly in a case where Parliament is left to fix its own valuation, and no specific sum is demanded, or even suggested, by the Party who offers the Collection to the Public. It is obvious that the money expended in the acquisition of any commodity is not necessarily the measure of its real value. The sum laid out in gaining possession of two articles of the same intrinsic worth, may, and often does, vary considerably. In making two excavations, for instance, of equal magnitude and labour, a broken Bust or some few Fragments may be discovered in the one, and a perfect Statue in the other. The first cost of the broken Bust and of the entire Statue would in that case be the same; but it cannot be said that the value is therefore equal. In the same manner, by the loss or detention of a Ship, a great charge may have been incurred, and the original outgoing excessively enhanced ; but the value to the buyer will in no degree be affected by these extraneous accidents. Supposing, again, Artists to have been engaged at considerable salaries during a large period in which they could do little or nothing, the first cost would be burdensome in this case also to the employer ; but those who bought would look only at the value of the article in the market where it might be exposed to sale, without caring, or inquiring how, or at what expense it was brought thither. Supposing, on the other hand, that the thirteen other Metopes had been bought at the Custom House sale at the same price which that of Mr. Choiseul Gouffier fetched, it could never be said, that the value of them was no more than twenty-four or twenty- five pounds a piece. It is perfectly just and reasonable that the seller should endeavour fully to reim- burse himself for all expenses, and to acquire a profit also ; but it will be impossible for him to do so, whenever the disbursements have exceeded the fair money price of that which he has to dispose of. Your Committee refer to Lord Elgin’s evidence for the large and heavy charges which have attended the formation of this Collection, and the placing of it in its pre- sent situation ; which amount, from 1799 to January 1803, to £62,440, including £23,240 for the interest of money ; and according to a supplemental account, corn turned from 1803 to 1816, to no less a sum than £74,000, including the same sum for interest. All the papers which are in his possession upon this subject, including a journal of above 90 pages, of the daily expenses of his principal artist Lusieri, (from 1803 to the close of 1814,) who still remains in his employment at Athens, together with the account current of Messrs. Hayes of Malta, (from April 1807 to May 1811,) have been freely submitted to your Committee; and there can be no doubt, from the inspection of those accounts, confirmed nlso by other testimony, that the disburse- ments were very considerable ; but supposing them to reach the full sum at which they are calculated, your Committee do not hesitate to express their opinion, that they aftord no just criterion of the Value of the Collection, and therefore must not be taken 4S a just basis for estimating it. Two Valuations and only two in detail, have been laid before your Committee b * a ' e Pri " ted ; dlfferlc S most wide] J particulars, and in the total; that of EARL OF ELGIN'S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, fcc. .9 to the same period, though the execution is rated as inferior to that of the Elgin Marbles. In the fabulous stories which are represented upon both, there is a very- striking similarity ; and it may be remarked in passing, that the subjects of the Metopes, and of the smaller Prize, which is sculptured with the battle of the Amazons, correspond with two out of the four subjects mentioned by Pliny, as adorning the shield and dress of the Minerva ; so that there was a general uniformity ot design in the stories which were selected for the internal and external decoration of the Parthenon. The taste of the same artist, Ictinus, probably led him to repeat the same ideas, which abound in graceful forms, and variety of composition, when he was employed upon the temple of another divinity, at a distance from Athens. The statue of Minerva within the Temple, was the work of Phidias himself ; and, with the exception of the Jupiter which he made at FJis, the most celebrated of his productions. It was composed of ivory and gold ; with regard to which, some very curious anecdotes relating to the political history of that time, are to be found in the same writers ; the earliest of which, from a passage in a cotemporary poet, Aristo- phanes, proves that the value of these materials involved both Pericles and the director of his works in great trouble, and jeopardy ; upon which account the latter is said to have withdrawn to Elis, and to have ended his days there, leaving it doubtful whether his death was natural, or in consequence of a judicial sentence : but Plutarch places his death at Athens, and in prison, either by disease, or by poison. It has been doubted whether Phidias himself ever wrought in Marble : but, although, when he did not use ivory, his chief material was unquestionably bronze ; there are authorities sufficient to establish, beyond all controversy, that he sometimes applied his hand to Marble. Pliny, for instance, asserts that he did so, and mentions a Venus ascribed to him, existing in his own time in the collection (or in the portico) of Octavia. Phidias is called by Aristotle a skilful worker in Stone; and Pausanias enumerates a Celestial Venus of Parian Marble, undoubtedly of his hand ; and the Rhamnusian Nemesis, also of the same material. Some of his statues in bronze, were brought to Rome by Paulus iEmilius, and by Catullus. His great reputation, however, was founded upon his representations of the Gods, in which he was supposed more excellent than in human forms, and especially upon his works in ivory, in which he stood unrivalled *. Elidas the Argive is mentioned as the master of Phidias ; which honour is also shared by Hippias. His two most celebrated scholars were Alcamenes an Athenian of noble birth, and Agoracritus of Paros ; the latter of whom was his favourite; and it was reported, that out of affection to him, Phidias put his scholar’s name upon several of his own works : among which the statue called Rhamnusian Nemesis is particular- ized by Pliny, and Suidas. In another passage of Pliny, Alcamenes is classed with Critias, Nestocles, and Ilegias, who are called the rivals of Phidias, The name of Colotes is preserved as another of his scholars. The other great Sculptors who were living at the same time with Phidias, and flourished very soon after him, were Agelades, Callon, Polycletus, Phragmon, Gorgias, Lacon, Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and Perelius. The passage in which Pausanias mentions the Sculptures on the pediments 15 * Quintilian, xii. c. IQ. C 8 REPORT TROM SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE Parliament to- purchase it for £30,000, provided Lord Elgin should make out, to the satisfaction of a Committee of the House of Commons, that he had expended so much in acquiring, and transporting it. Lord Elgin declined this proposal, for the reasons stated by him in his evidence : and until the month of June 1815, no further step was taken on either side; but at that time a petition was presented, on the part of Lord Elgin, to the House, which, owing to the late period of the Session, was not proceeded upon. Eighty additional cases have been received since 1811, the contents of which, enumerated in Mr. Hamil- ton's evidence, now form a part of the Collection. Ihe Medals also, of which the value is more easily defined, were not included in the proposal made to Mr. Percival. Against these augmentations must be set the rise in the value of money, which is unquestionably not inconsiderable, between the present time and the year 1811; a cause or consequence of which is the depreciation of every commodity, either of ne- cessity, or fancy, which is brought to sale. Your Committee, therefore, do not think that they should be justified, in behalf of the Public, if they were to recommend to the House any extension of Mr. Percival’s offer to a greater amount than £5,000; and, under all the circumstances that they have endeavoured to bring under the view of the House, they judge Thirty-five Thou- sand Pounds to be a reasonable and sufficient price for this Collection. Your Committee observing, that by the Act 45 Geo. III. c. 127, for vesting the Townleyan Collection in the Trustees of the British Museum, % 4, the proprietor of that Collection, Mr. Tomnley Standish, was added to the Trustees of the British Museum, considered the Earl of Elgin (and his heirs being Earls of Elgin), as equally entitled to the same distinction, and recommend that a clause should be inserted to that effect, if it should be necessary that an Act should pass for transferring his Collection to the Public. It may not be deemed foreign to this subject, if your Committee venture to extend their observations somewhat beyond the strict limit of their immediate inquiry, and lay before the House what occurs to them as not unimportant with regard to the age and authenticity of these Sculptures. The great works with which Pericles adorned and strengthened Athens, were all carried on under the direction and superin tendance of Phidias : for this, there is the authority of various ancient writers, and particularly of Plutarch ; but he distinctly asserts in the same passage* that Callicrates and Ictinus executed the work of the Parthenon ; which is confirmed also by Pausanias, so far as relates to Ictinus, who likewise ornamented or con- structed the temple of Apollo at Phigalia* ; from whence, by a singular coincidence, the Sculptures in high relief lately purchased for the British Museum, and frequently referred to in the evidence, were transported. The style of this work, in the opinion of the Artists, indicates that it belongs * The penultimate syllable should be pronounced long : Phigalia closes two hexameter verses ; one of which IS quoted by Pausanius, and the. other by Stephanus Byzatuiiius, from, fihianus, a Poet of Crete, EARL OF ELGIN'S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 11 was obliged to draw every thing from below, without a scaffold.” — (Voyage par Jacob Spon ; Lyons, 1678 ; 2 tom. p. 144.) Wheler, who travelled with Spon, and published his work at London (four years later) in 1682, says : “ But my companion made me observe the next two figures sitting in the corner to be of the Emperor Hadrian and his Empress Sabina, whom I easily knew to be so, by the many medals and statues I have seen of them.” And again : “ But the Emperor Hadrian most probably repaired it, and adorned it with those figures at each front : for the whiteness of the Marble, and his own statue joined with them, apparently show them to be of a later age than the first, and done by that Emperor’s command. Within the portico on high, and on the outside of the cella of the Temple itself, is another border of basso relievo round about it, or at least on the North and South sides, which, without doubt, is as ancient as the Temple, and of admirable work, but not so high a relievo as the other. Thereon are represented sa- crifices, processions, and other ceremonies of the heathens' worship. Most of them were designed by the M. de Nointel, who employed a painter to do it two months together, and showed them to us when we waited on him at Constantinople." Another French author, who published three years earlier than Spon', a work called “ Athenes Ancienne & Nouvelle, par le S’ de la Guilletiere, ii Paris,” 1675, — says, “ Pericles employed upon the Parthenon the celebrated architects Callicrates and Ictinus. The last, who had more reputation than the former, wrote a description of it in a book*, which he composed on purpose, and which has been lost; and we should probably not now have the opportunity of admiring the building itself, if the Emperor Hadrian had not preserved it to us, by the repairs which he caused to be done. It is to his care that we owe the few remains of antiquity which are still entire at Athens. In the Antiquities of Athens by Stuart, vol. ii. p. 4, it is said, “ Pausanias gives but a transient account of this Temple, nor does he say whether Hadrian repaired it, though his statue, and that of his Empress Sabina in the western pediment, have oc- casioned a doubt whether the sculptures, in both, were not put up by him. Wheler and Spon were of this opinion, and say they were whiter than the rest of the building. The statue of Antinous, now remaining at Rome, may be thought a proof that there were artists in his time capable of executing them ; but this whiteness is no proof that they were more modern than the Temple, for they might be made of a whiter marble; and the heads of Hadrian and Sabina might be put on two of the ancient figures, which was no uncommon practice among the Romans ; and if we may give credit to Plutarch, the buildings of Pericles were not in the least impaired by age in his time.; therefore, this Temple could not want any material repairs in the reign of Hadrian.” With regard to the works of Hadrian at Athens, Spartian says, “ that he did much for the Athenians f;” and a little after, on his second visit to Athens, “ going to the East he made his journey through Athens, and dedicated the works which he had begun there: and particularly a temple to Olympian Jupiter, and an altar to himself.” The account given by Dion Cassius, is nearly to the same effect; adding, that he placed his own statue within the temple of Olympian Jupiter, which he erected J. He called some other cities after his own name, and directed a part' of Athens to be styled Iladrianopolis § : but no mention is made by any ancient author, of his touch- * Ictinus and Carpion were jointly concerned in this work, for which we have the authority of Vitruvius, lib. 7. prsefat. + Folio edit. 1620, p. 6. $ b. 69. c. 1(3. § Spartian, p. 10, 12 REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE, fee, ing, or repairing the Parthenon. Pausanias, who wrote in his reign, says, that “ the temples which Hadrian either erected from the foundation, or adorned with dedicate gifts and decorations, or whatever donations he made to the cities of the Greeks, an of the Barbarians also, who made application to him, were all recorded at Athens in the temple common to all the gods * It is not unlikely, that a confused recollection of the statue which Hadrian actua y placed at Athens, may have led one of the earliest travellers into a mistake, which lias been repeated and countenanced by subsequent writers: but Mr. Fauvel, who will be quoted presently, speaks as from his own examination and observation, when he men- tions the two statues in question ; which, it is to be observed, still remain (without theii heads) upon the pediment of the entrance, and have not been removed by Lord Elgin. An exact copy of these drawings, by the Marquis de Nointel’s painter, is given in Stuart's Antiquities of Athens, vol. iv. chap. 4. plates 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are ren- dered more valuable on account of the destruction of a considerable part of the Temple, in the Turkish war, by the falling of a Venetian bomb, within a short time after the year in which they were made ; which, however, must have been prior to the date of 1683, which has been affixed to them. Some notes of Mr. Fauvel, a painter and antiquary, who moulded and took casts from the greatest part of the Sculptures, and remained fifteen years at Athens, are given with the engravings of these drawings; in which it is said, with regard to these pediments, chap. iv. page 21, “ These figures had bronze ornaments, at least if one may judge from the head of Sabina A, plate 5, which having fallen oft, being much mutilated, has been brought to Mr. Fauvel, holes may still be observed, apparently to receive little gudgeons of bronze, by which the crown was fastened. The head B of the Emperor Hadrian still remains. This group has probably been supplied afterwards in honour of this Emperor : it is of a different workmanship from the other figures. Your Committee cannot dismiss this interesting subject, without submitting to the attentive reflection of the House, how highly the cultivation of the Fine Arts has contributed to the reputation, character, and dignity of every Government by which they have been encouraged, and how intimately they are connected with the ad- vancement of every thing valuable in science, literature, and philosophy. In contem- plating the importance and splendour to which so small a republic as Athens rose, by the genius and energy of her citizens exerted in the path of such studies, it is impos- sible to overlook how transient the memory and fame of extended empires and of mighty conquerors are, in comparison of those who have rendered inconsiderable states eminent, and immortalized their own names by these pursuits. But if it be true, as we learn from history and experience, that free governments afford a soil most suitable to the production of native talent, to the maturing of the powers of the human mind, and to the growth of every species of excellence, by opening to merit the pro- spect of reward and distinction, no country can be better adapted than our own to af- ford an honourable asylum to these monuments of the school of Phidias, and of the administration of Eeviclts ; where, secure from further injury and degradation, they may receive that admiration and homage to which they are entitled, and serve in re- turn as models and examples to those, who by knowing how to revere and appreciate them, may learn first to imitate, and ultimately to rival them. March 25, 1816. * Paus. Att. p. 5. Ed. Xyl. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE, RESPECTING THE EARL OF ELGIN’S MARBLES. N. B. — The Theseus and Hercules are used in the Evidence with reference to the same Statue, which was at first called Theseus ; and the appellation of Ilissus, or The River God, is also given indifferently to another Statue , which was sometimes called Neptune. Jovis, 29° die Februarii. HENRY BANICES, Esq. in the Chair. The Earl of Elgin, called in, and Examined. Your Lordship will be pleased to state the circumstances under which you became possessed of this Collection, and the authority which you received for taking the Marbles from Athens?— The - Wea was suggested to me in the year 1799, at the period of my nomination to the Embassy at Constantinople, by Mr. Harrison, an architect, who was working for me in Scotland, and who had passed the greater part of his life in Rome ; and his observation was, that though the Public was in possession of every thing to give them a general knowledge of the remains of Athens, yet they had nothing to convey to Artists, particularly to Students, that which the actual representation by cast would more effectually give them. Upon that suggestion, I communicated very fully with my acquaintances in London. I mentioned it to Lord Grenville, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Dundas, upon the idea that it was of such national importance as that the Government might be induced to take it up, hot only to obtain the object, but also to obtain it by the means of the most able artists at that time in England. The answer of Government, which was entirely negative, was, that the Government would not have been justified in undertaking any expense of an indefinite nature, particularly under the little probability that then existed of the success of the undertaking. Upon that understanding, I applied to such artists here as were recommended to me as likely to answer the purpose, in particulai to Mr. Turner, to go upon my own account. Mr. Turner s objection to my plan was, that as the object was of a general nature, and that the condition I insisted upon was, that the whole results of all the artists should be collected together and left with me ; he objected, because he wished to retain a certain portion of his own labour for his own use ; he moreover asked between seven and eight hundred pounds of salary, independently of his expenses being paid, which of course was out of my reach altogether, therefore nothing was done here preparatory to the undertaking at all. M hen I went to Sicily, X met Sir William Hamilton, to whom I explained my views : he encouraged my idea, and applied to the 'King of Naples for permission for me to engage his painter, Lusieri, who was at that time employed in picturesque views of Sicily for the Sicilian government ; who went with Mr. Hamilton to Rome, The Earl of Elgin. y 24 , MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE The and, upon the plan arranged with Sir William Hamilton, engaged the five other artists, who Earl Of Elgin. accompanied him ultimately to Turkey : those five persons were, two architects, two modellers, and one figure painter. Lusieri was a general painter. They reached Constantinople about the middle of May 1800, at the time when the French were in full possession of Egypt, and of course no attempts could be made with any prospect of general success. I sent them to Athens, however, as soon as an opportunity offered : for several months they had no access to the Acropolis, except for the purpose of drawing, and that at an expense of five guiueas a day : that lasted from August 1 800 till the month of April 1801. That limited access lasted about nine months? — Yes. The fee of five guineas was one usually demanded from strangers ? — There were so few strangers there, I do not know ; but in the instances which came to my knowledge, it was so. During that period, my artists were employed in the buildings in the low town of Athens. In proportion with the change of affairs in our relations towards Turkey, the facilities of access were increased to me, and to all English travellers : and about the middle of the summer of 1801, all difficulties were removed ; we then had access for general purposes. The same facilities continued till my departure from Turkey in January 1803, at which period I withdrew five out of the six artists ; and having sent home every thing that was in the collection, till the year 1812 Lusieri remained, with such instructions, and such means, and such powers, as enabled him to carry on the same operation to the extent that then remained to make it, as I concluded, more perfect : but from that period of 1 803 till the present day, during my imprisonment in France, and during the remaining years, he has acted without any interruption, in the enjoyment of the same facilities, with a renewal of the same authorities : he has incurred the same expenses, and done the same as before. Where is he now ? i — Remaining there still : he was not there during the war, but he has obtained a renewal of the same authorities since. Your Lordship has stated, that when the change took place in the political relations between this country and Turkey, a facility of access was continued to you, and all your artists? — Yes. And in 1801 all difficulties were removed which applied to the erecting scaffolding, and making excavations ; was the same permission to erect scaffolding and make excavations given to other persons at Athens at that time ? — I do not know of any such instance : other persons made use of the same scaffolding of course. I do not know that any specific permission of this kind was applied for : I believe the permission granted to me was the same in substance and in purport as to any other person, with the difference of the extent of means, and an unlimited use of money. There was nobody there, I believe, who was doing any thing but draw. Did the permission specifically refer to removing statues, or was that left to discretion ? — No ; it was executed by the means of those general permissions granted : in point of fact, permission issuing from the Porte for any of the distant provinces, is little better than an authority to make the best bargain you can with the local authorities. The permission was to draw, model, and remove ; there was a specific permission to excavate in a particular place. Was the permission in writing? — It was, and addressed by the Porte to the local authorities, to whom I delivered it ; and I have retained none of them. In a letter I addressed to Mr. Long in the year 1811, I made use of these words : — “ That the ministers of the Porte were prevailed upon, after much trouble and patient solicitation, to grant to me an authority to remove what I might discover, as well as draw and model.” Does your Lordship suppose this to have been the same form of permission that had been given to other people; and that your Lordship employed it to a greater extent than other people? — It was so far different, that no other person had applied for permission to remove or model. Does your Lordship know whether any permission had been granted to any other person to remove or model? — Monsieur de Choiseul had the same permission; and some of the things he removed are paw in my collection, ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. J5 He removed them while he was minister at the Porte? — Yes. Had that permission ever been granted to excavate and remove, before Monsieur Choiseul had it? — I do not know. There seems to be a considerable difference between, to excavate and remove, and to remove and excavate : the question was not, whether your Lordship was permitted to remove what you should find on excavation, but whether your Lordship was permitted to remove from the walls? — I was at liberty to remove from the walls ; the permission was to remove generally. Was there any specific permission alluding to the statues particularly? — I do not know whether it specified the statiies, or whether it was a general power to remove. I was obliged to send from Athens to Constantinople for permission to remove a house. That was a house belonging to the Turkish government: did not yotir Lordship keep any copy of any of the written permissions that were given to your Lordship? — I kept no copies whatever; every paper that could be of use at Athens, was left there as a matter of course, because Lusieri continued there : the few papers I brought away with me, were burnt on my detention in France ; my private papers I mean, and all my accounts, which I had brought away from Turkey. In point of fact, your Lordship has not in England any copy of any of those written permissions? — None. Did the Committee understand you to say, that it is possible Lusieri has such copies? — Certainly ; they will be at Athens, either in his possession, or in the possession of the authorities there. Has your Lordship any distinct recollection of having had such copies of the authorities, and of having left them in Lusieri’s possession? — I cannot speak to the fact so precisely as the Committee may wish ; the authority itself was given over to the proper officer ; and then Lusieri obtained from him any part of it that was necessary to be exhibited on any future occasion. Did your Lordship, for your own satisfaction, keep any copy of the terms of those permissions ? — No, I never did ; and it never occurred to me that the question would arise ; the thing was done publicly before the whole world. I employed three or four hundred people a day ; and all the local authorities were concerned in it, as well as the Turkish government. When your Lordship stated, that the permission granted to your Lordship was the same that had been granted to other individuals, with the difference only of the extent of means, did you mean to convey to the Committee, that permissions to remove Marbles and carry them away had been granted to other individuals? — No ; what I meant to say was this, that as far as any application was made to the Turkish government through me, or to my knowledge, the same facilities were granted in all cases. I did not receive more as ambassador, than they received as travellers ; but as I employed artists, those permissions were added to my leave. I am not aware of any particular application being made for a specific leave that was not granted, where a similar leave was granted to myself. Your Lordship has stated, that no individual had applied for leave to remove? — To the best of my recollection, no application had been made to remove. No application, either through you, or to your knowledge? — Yes ; as far as I can recollect. Of course your Lordship means to except the permission that you stated before had been long antecedently given to Monsieur Comte de Choiseul? — Yes. Do you know, in point of fact, whether the same permission was granted to Monsieur Comte de Choiseul as was granted to you? — He exercised the same power. But you do not know whether he had the same permission? — No. Then, within your Lordship’s knowledge, there is no instance of a private individual having obtained such permission? — I have no knowledge of any individual having applied for it, and I do not know whether it has been granted or not. I do not know that there was any difficulty in the way of removing, by anybody. Was it necessary that those powers should be renewed after your Lordship came away, and that The Earl of Eight. The Earl of Elgin. V MINPTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE the artists already employed by you are employed ostensibly by the ministers there . Ido not what distinction there is between Lusieri and any other artist. Is he acting under the permission your Lordship obtained?— There has been war since. Has it been renewed to your Lordship, or individually to themselves?— They have made the application through the channel they thought proper; what it was I do not know ; but it was probably the same permission that Lord Aberdeen had, and many other travellers that have been there. Your Lordship does not know whether it was renewed to your Lordship or to Mr. Liston, or whether they are acting under a permission granted to him, or individual permissions granted to the artists?— I do not know what the detail is; I conclude they are acting exactly as any other traveller there is ; there is no advantage from the ambassadorial title that I had then, that can apply to them now, because there has been war since. Have they power to excavate, model, and remove? — They have removed a great deal from thence. And you do not know in what shape those powers have been renewed since the war? — No, I do not. In the letter to Mr. Long, which you have stated, you speak as having obtained these permissions after much trouble and patient solicitation ; what was the nature of the objections on the part of the Turkish government? — Their general jealousy and enmity to every Christian of every denomination, and every interference on their part. I believe, that from the period of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, the French government have been endeavouring to obtain similar advantages, and particularly the Sigean Marble. They rested it upon that general objection? — Upon the general enmity to what they called Christian Dogs. That was not the manner in which they stated their objection? — No; but that is the fact; it was always refused. Without reasons ? — Without reasons assigned ; every body on the spot knew what those reasons were ; that they would not give any facility to any thing that was not Turkish. All your Lordship’s communications with the Porte were verbal? — There was nothing in writing till an order was issued. The objection disappeared from the moment of the decided success of our arms in Egypt? — Yes; the whole system of Turkish feeling met with a revolution ; in the first place, from the invasion by the French, and afterwards by our conquest. Your Lordship has stated in your Petition, that you directed your attention in an especial manner to the benefit of rescuing from danger the remains of Sculpture and Architecture ; what steps did you take for that purpose? — My whole plan was to measure and to draw every thing that remained and could be traced of architecture, to model the peculiar features of architecture: I brought home a piece of each description of column for instance, and capitals and decorations of every description ; friezes and moulds, and, in some instances, original specimens : and the architects not only went over the measurements that had been before traced, but, by removing the foundations, were enabled to extend them, and to open the way to further inquiries, which have been attended since with considerable success. You state, that you have rescued the remains from danger? — From the period of Stuart’s visit to Athens till the time I went to Turkey, a very great destruction had taken place. There was an old temple on the Ilissus had disappeared. There was,' in the neighbourhood of Elis and Olympia, another temple, which had disappeared. At Corinth, I think Stuart gives thirteen columns, and there were only five when I got there : every traveller coming, added to the general defacement of the statuary in his reach : there are now in London pieces broken off within our day. And the Turks have been continually defacing the heads ; and in some instances they have actually acknowledged to me, tha}; they have pounded down the statues to convert them into mortar. It w'as upon these suggestions;, and ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 17 with these feelings, that I proceeded to remove as much of the sculpture as I conveniently could : it was no part of my original plan to bring away any thing but my models. Then your Lordship did not do any thing to rescue them, in any other way than to bring away such as you found ? — No; it was impossible for me to do more than that; the Turkish Government attached no importance to them in the world ; and in all the modern walls, these things are built up promiscuously with common stones. It has been stated, that in a despatch from Turkey, at a very early period after your Lordship went out, that your Lordship had an occasion to write to His Majesty’s Government concerning your public appointment as a minister, and that you stated some circumstances distinctly to them at that time, which showed your understanding and their understanding, that your proceedings in Greece were entirely upon your own private account ; is that statement correct, that there is a document in existence, dated in the year 1803, which will prove that fact? There is, precisely what is alluded to in a despatch at the period of my leaving Turkey. In point of fact, did the Turkish Government know that your Lordship was removing these statues under the permission your Lordship had obtained from them? — No doubt was ever expressed to me of their knowledge of it; and as the operation has been going on these seventeen years without any such expression, so far as I have ever heard, I conclude they must have been in the intimate knowledge of every thing that was doing. In point of fact, your Lordship does not know that they were ever apprised of it? It is impossible for me to have any doubt about it. Did your Lordship ever apprise any of the Government of it in conversation ? — The chance is, that I have done it five hundred times, but I cannot answer specifically when or how. Did not the Committee understand your Lordship to say, that they must have so well under- stood it, that in one instance your Lordship got a special order to remove a particular thing ? There was a special permission solicited for the house : when I did excavate in consequence of getting possession of that house, there was not a single fragment found : I excavated down to the rock, and that without finding any thing, when the Turk to whom the house belonged came to me, and laughingly told me, that they were made into the mortar with which he built his house. Then the permission was to buy the house? — To pull it down. Since 1803 has Lusieri continued to remove things? — ! can answer that question by a fact of considerable importance. When I was in Paris a prisoner, in the year 1 805, living in Paris perfectly tranquilly with my family, I received a letter from an English traveller, complaining of Lusieri’ s taking down part of the frieze of the Parthenon. The next morning a common gens d’arme came and took me out of bed, and sent me into close confinement, away from my family. Such was the influence exercised by the French to prevent this operation. Your Lordship attributed it entirely to the French?— Yes; the French sent me in that way down to Melun. In reference to what was stated in a passage of your Lordship’s Petition, will your Lordship be so good as to say whether you have ever heard of the Turkish Government taking any care that the works of art should not be destroyed ?— Certainly not ; within my knowledge nothing of the sort was ever done; the military governor of the Acropolis endeavoured to keep them, after people had appeared anxious to get them away. So that the hesitation on the part of the Government your Lordship attributes to a dislike to the Christians ? — The general apprehension of doing any act displeasing to the French operated at the time the French were in Egypt. Has your Lordship any knowledge of any particular application made to the Turkish Government by any individual, and granted, of an equal extent with your Lordship’s ? — I have not any knowledge of what has passed since, except the details of Lusieri’s owp operations. D The Earl of Elgin. 18 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE 1 1 t j The Earl of Elgin. V From an observation in part of your Lordship’s evidence, the Committee concluded that your - Lordship has, since 1812, received several of these Marbles? — In the year 1812 about eighty cases arrived. Have there been any received subsequently ? — I believe there have ; but I am not very certain, having been out of the country myself. Did Monsieur Choiseul take down any of the metopes and the frieze ? — One piece of the metope and some of the frieze ; the metope I bought at a public sale at the custom-house. It was at the time I returned from France ; my things were dispersed all over the country ; and my agent told me of some packages in the custom-house, without direction ; and I gave four or five-and-twenty pounds for them at a lumber sale. Thinking those packages to be your Lordship’s? — Yes. When your Lordship heard of those cases being to be sold at a rummage sale, did your Lordship make any application to the Government, stating that they had any interest in it, and that therefore you ought not to be obliged to purchase? — No ; certainly not. It was a matter of private purchase ? — Yes; these things had been left at Athens during the whole of the French Revolution. Buonaparte allowed a corvette to call and bring these things for Monsieur Choiseul, who was an intimate acquaintance of Monsieur Talleyrand. From the delay which occurred, they did not get away in time to escape our cruisers. Monsieur Choiseul applied to me to make interest with Lord Nelson, and I wrote to him, and he directed them to be sent home ; and applied to Lord Sidmouth and Sir Joseph Banks, wishing Government to make such a purchase as to secure the captors, but at the same time to restore the articles to Monsieur Choiseul. When I left Paris Monsieur Choiseul remained in the belief that they were still at Malta, consequently I had no clue to guess these were his at the time of the purchase in the year 1 806 ; but I immediately wrote to him, to state what these things were, as I had no doubt they were his by the metope ; and in the year 1810 he wrote to me, stating that his were still at Malta: when I went over to Paris last year I took a memorandum with me for him, and satisfied him they were his ; but he has never yet sent about them, and I do not know what he means to do at all ; but there they are, marked among my things as belonging to him. Does your Lordship know, that subsequent to your coming away, and during the time we were at war, any similar permission was applied for, and obtained by the French? — I do not know any thing about that; but in point of fact, my cases were at the harbour during the whole of the war ; and if the French Government had had any thing that they could have put afloat, they would have taken them. Did that seizure apply to the property of all English characters; or, did it apply to your Lordship’s as a public character, and therefore the property of the country? — Besides the boxes at the harbour, Lusieri’s magazines were filled in the town of Athens ; and immediately after his flight they broke those open, and sent them to Yanana, and from thence to Buonaparte. Was not Lusieri considered as an agent of your Lordship’s in your public character ? — No ; cer- tainly not. Your Lordship had applied for him to do what he was doing; and was he not in that way con- sidered as your Lordship’s agent, and therefore subject to the same liability as your Lordship was, to have whatever was in his possession seized? — He was considered as an English subject, as far as’ his connection with me went ; but his property was stolen in fact : his property and mine was promiscu- ously taken, they did not do it officially. Was any objection made by the chief magistrate of Athens, against taking away these Marbles, as exceeding the authority received from Constantinople ? — There was no such objection ever made. ’ Was ever any representation made of any kind? — None that I ever heard of. Does your Lordship believe, to the best of your judgment, that you obtained, in your character ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 19 of ambassador, any authority for removing these Marbles, which your Lordship would not have obtained in your private capacity, through the intervention of the British ambassador ? — I certainly consider that I obtained no authority as given to me in my official capacity (I am speaking from my own impression ;) the Turkish Government did not know how to express their obligation to us for the conquest of Egypt, and for the liberality that followed from Government, and of course I obtained what I wanted ; whether I could have obtained it otherwise or not, I cannot say ; Lusieri has obtain- ed the same permission seventeen years, in the course of which time we have been at war with Turkey. Monsieur De Choiseul had permission, under very different circumstances ; but, in point of fact, I did stand indebted to the general good-will we had ensured by our conduct towards the Porte, most distinctly I was indebted to that; whether Monsieur Choiseul s example could be quoted or not, is a matter of question. In your Lordship’s opinion, if Lord Aberdeen had been at Constantinople at the time your Lordship was ambassador there, could you have obtained the same permission for Lord Aberdeen as an individual, that you did as ambassador obtain for yourself? — I can only speak from conjecture. The Turkish Government, in return for our services in Egypt, did offer to the British Government every public concession that could be wished. They were in a disposition that I conceive they would have granted any thing that could have been asked : I entered upon the undertaking in the expectation that the result of our expedition for the relief of Egypt would furnish opportunities of this sort. Then the result of the impression on your Lordship’s mind would be, that other advantages granted by the Turkish Government were on the same principle as the permission to your Lordship to remove these Marbles, and rather out of public gratitude for the interference of England ? I believe it was entirely that, and nothing else ; I was not authorized to make any application in the name of Government for this ; but I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I looked forward to this, as that which was to enable me to execute the plan ; and to that I am indebted for it. Whether under other circumstances 1 could hav^ obtained the facilities Monsieur Choiseul had had before, I cannot answer. When your Lordship received this, which you considered as a proof of the public gratitude of the Turkish Government to England, did your Lordship mention the circumstance in any of your despatches to Government ? — I should suppose not in any other despatch than that which has been alluded to. That was upon leaving Turkey, was not it? — Yes. If your Lordship considers it as a mark of the public gratitude of the Porte to Great Britain, does not your Lordship consider that mark of gratitude essentially connected with your character of representative of the Court of Great Britain at the Porte? — I did not ask it in that character, nor did I ask it as a proof of the disposition of the Porte ; but I availed myself of that disposition to make the application myself. Does your Lordship suppose, that if that application had been made at that particular period by any other person than the ambassador of Great Britain, it would have been granted ? — In my own mind I think it would, if he had had means of availing himself of it ; that is to say, if he had*determined to risk his whole private fortune in a pursuit of such a nature. When your Lordship mentioned that general disposition of the Turkish Government, do you mean that it was as well to individuals in their private capacity, as to any demand made by the Government? To every body. In short, it was a disposition of good-will towards Englishmen ? — Of cordiality towards Englishmen, to an extent never known before. In making the application to the Turkish Government for permission to remove these Marbles, did your Lordship state to them the objects you had in view in so removing them, whether for the purpose of collecting an assemblage of these things as matter of curiosity for yourself, or for the pur- pose of bringing them to this country for the improvement of the arts ? — In explanation it must The Earl of Elgin. ■ 20 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE The Far l of Elgin. have been so stated ; whether there was any formal application bearing upon your question, I cannot „ undertake to say. Was it or not stated to the Turkish Government, that it was for the purpose of forming a private museum, or for public uses ? — I am afraid they would not have understood me, if I had attempted a distinction. In what way did your Lordship distinguish, in your applications to the Turkish Government, between your private and public capacity?- — I never named myself in my public capacity, not having any authority to do so : this w r as a personal favour, and it was granted quite extra officially to me. And asked as such? — Asked as such, and granted as such. The Fermauns granted to your Lordship, were not, as the. Committee collect from your statement to day, permissions to take particular pieces, one from the city and one from the citadel, and so on ? — No ; I had never been at Athens, and could not specify any thing. In point of fact, the Fermaun was not so? — It was not; there could not have been an application for specific things. Suppose the transaction had passed in this way, that your Lordship was anxious to have some of these Marbles, the Government were willing to grant you a limited permission to take one or two pieces ? — Certainly it was not so ; it must have been quite general. Your Lordship has no certain recollection how it was? — No ; only that I did not know any thing of the state of Athens, and consequently my application must have been general. Veneris , 1° die Martii , 1816. HENRY BANKES, Esq. in the Chair . The Earl of Elgin, again called in, and' Examined. WILL your Lordship be pleased to state the view under which the Collection was made ? [The Earl of Elgin, in answer, delivered in the following papers, which were read.] “ A Letter dated London, 14th February 1816, signed Elgin, addressed to the Right Honour- able Nicholas Vansittart.” “ A Memorandum as to his Lordship’s exclusive right of property in the Collection, dated February 1816.” “ A Memorandum as to the delay in transferring the Earl of Elgin’s Collection to the Public.” Has your Lordship any account from which you can state to the Committee the actual sums which your Lordship has paid in obtaining these Marbles, and in transporting them to this country ? [His Lordship handed in a copy of a Letter addressed to Mr. Long on the 6th of May 1811, with a Postscript dated 29th February 1816, addressed to the Chairman of this Committee; which was read.] Has your Lordship any paper which exhibits the total? — No other than as it is stated in that letter, which I do not offer as a precise account, but it is merely to inform the Committee what was the nature of the expense. • Was any specific offer as to price, for obtaining those Marbles for the Public, made to your Lordship by Mr. Perceval, and in what year ? - Yes ; I believe it was a few days after the date of the above letter to Mr. Long, in the name of Mr. Perceval, he did intimate to me, as I understood, ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, 8cc. that Mr. Perceval would be disposed to recommend the sum of £ 30,000 to be given for the Collection as it then stood. What passed in consequence of that offer? — I believe it is mentioned in the memorandum which I have given in, accounting for the delay — paper marked No. 3 and which exactly states the grounds on which I declined the offer : it follows immediately after the extract from the Dilettanti publication, in these words: — “So that when Mr. Perceval, in 1811, proposed to purchase this Collection, not by proceeding to settle the price, upon a private examination into its merits and value, but by offering at once a specific sum for it; I declined the proposal as one which, under the above impressions, w f ould be in the highest degree unsatisfactory to the Public, as well as wholly inadequate either in compensation of the outlay occasioned in procuring the Collection, or in reference to (what has since been established beyond all doubt) the excellence of the sculpture, and its authenticity as the work of the ablest artists of the age of Pericles. Mr. Vansittart never made any specific offer on the part of the Public? — No, never, except in what passed last year, which was afterwards dropped. What further has passed relating to the transfer of those Marbles to the Public, since 1811? — In the spring of 1815, Burlington House having been sold, Lord George Cavendish intimated a desire that I should remove the Marbles from thence in consequence. I applied to the Trustees of the British Museum to take them in deposit, considering that the circumstances of the times might not make it convenient for the Public to enter upon the transfer. In reply, the British Museum rejected my proposal, as not being consistent with their usual mode of proceedings, and they appointed three of their Members to enter into negociation with me for the transfer ; which nomination, after some discussion, led to the Petition which I presented to Parliament in the month of June following. Is there any price, in your Lordship’s estimation of these Marbles, lower than which you would not wish to part with them? — No ; there is no standard fixed in my mind at all. Are there any persons by whom this Collection has been valued? Not any one, to my knowledge. Are the gentlemen mentioned in the list you have delivered in, designed on your Lordship’s part to be examined as to the value of the Collection? — I gave in that list as thinking them proper persons, without consulting them on the occasion; they are the individuals best acquainted with the subject; and I fancy it would be satisfactory to the Public that they should be examined. Are there any and what additional articles now offered that were not included in the offer to Mr. Perceval in 1811? — To the best of my knowledge about eighty additional cases of Architecture and Sculpture have been added, and also a collection of Medals. The Right Honourable Charles Long ( a Member of the Committee) Examined. You having been referred to in Lord Elgin’s evidence, do vou recollect what passed on that occa- sion? — E ar iy i n the year 1811 I was desired by Mr. Perceval to endeavour to ascertain, as far as I could, the value of Lord Elgin’s Collection. I consulted various persons upon this subject ; and after having done so, Mr. Perceval asked me, Whether I was satisfied that the Collection was worth ^.30,000? I told him I had no doubt it was worth that and more, from the testimony of those whom I had consulted : upon which he authorized me to state to Lord Elgin, that he was willing to propose that sum to Parliament for the purchase of the Collection, provided he made out, to the satisfaction of a Committee of the House of Commons, that he had expended a sum equal to that amount in obtain- ing, the Collection and transporting it to this country. Upon my interview with Lord Elgin, his Lordship stated an account of his expenses amounting to double that sum, and declined the offer of Mr. Perceval. The Earl of Elgin. Right Hon. Charles Long. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE William Hamilton, Esq. called in, and Examined. V Have you looked into Lord Elgin's correspondence at the Foreign Office, when he was ambas- sador, and do you find any correspondence on the subject of these Marbles? — I have examined the correspondence, and I have with me an extract of a despatch from his Lordship to Lord Hawkesbury, dated the 13th of January 1803. [It was delivered in , and read.] Is that the only trace of reference to his Lordship’s pursuits in Greece, that you can find in the public correspondence? I have not examined the whole of the correspondence, so that I cannot precisely say whether it is the only reference, but it is that to which my attention was particularly called. Are you enabled to throw any light upon the question, Whether these Marbles were to be con- sidered as having been acquired by his Lordship in his public capacity as ambassador to the Porte? — I never heard any grounds whatever for that opinion until within a few years during the time that I was in Tuikey: it was never, to my knowledge, mentioned by individual travellers, or by any of his Majesty’s officers. Do you recollect any circumstances that have a contrary tendency? — I particularly recollect, when I was in Egypt, asking, by desire of Lord Elgin, Sir Richard Bickerton to assist his Lordship in carrying away from the coast of Greece some part of his Collection. He asked me whether those ai bles were intended by Lord Elgin for the Public, or whether they were his sole private property : I told him, exclusively the latter. Did you not attend Lord Elgin to Greece; and were you not acquainted with much of the detail of the means of obtaining permission to remove those statues, as well as of the circumstances attending their removal ? I attended Lord Elgin on his way to Greece only as far as Sicily ; from whence X went to Rome, by his desire, for the purpose of engaging the artists who were to carry on his operations at Athens. I joined Lord Elgin at Constantinople, in May 1800 ; my employment in his family did not necessarily put me exactly in the way of being acquainted with his communications with the Turkish Government respecting this subject. I was more immediately employed in the public business of the embassy ; and about twelve months afterwards I went to Egypt, and never returned to Constantinople during Lord Elgin's embassy. Have you any impression on your mind as to the nature of the permission that was granted by the X urkish Government ?— None, of my own knowledge. Through whom, and with whom, were the communications upon the subject of these permissions to obtain Marbles, and objects from Greece, carried on? — All communications between the British ambassador at Constantinople, and any persons connected with the Turkish Government were carried on through the interpreter of the embassy; and the individuals in the Turkish Government who were particularly applied to on this subject by Lord Elgin, were the Captain Pacha and the Sultan’s mother. Were you present at Athens during the removal of any part of the Marbles? — Yes I was During the removal of those that were taken from the Parthenon ?- Yes, I was.’ I cannot say that I was present at Athens when any one particular object was taken down from the Parthenon ■ but the operations in general were going on while X was there, I had nothing to do with them myself, being at Athens quite as a private individual. J Athens^? * iT" T Create ^ SenSati0 “ either am ° Dg the princi P al persons or the ^habitants of A hensr-No unpleesant sensation whatever: they seemed rather to feel it as a means of bringing foreigners into the country, and of having money spent amongst them. § * exposed ifLordF, ^ ^ ° f deSt ™ tion ‘0 which those Marbles would have been ZZ i» hadf'd r, n ° rTn them? ~ Fr0m the State ° f ‘ de § radatiou ■" ^icb ‘hey were, the injury they had evtdently suffered during the last fifty years, it was clear that there was a continued ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 23 system of destruction going on, as well from the wantonness of the Turks, who amused themselves with William Hamilton, firing upon the objects ; and from the invitation that was held out by occasional travellers to the 2 soldiers, and other people about the fortress, to bring them down heads, legs, or arms, or whatever else they could easily carry off. Have you ever seen Nointel’s drawings of the Parthenon, as it appeared in the year 1678? Yes, I have. Have not great dilapidation and degradation of the monuments taken place since that peiiod, supposing Nointel’s drawings to be correct? — Very great degradation indeed. As one instance, there was one large colossal figure, which is in the centre of the west pediment, almost entire in Nointel’s time, of which Lord Elgin has only recovered, and that with difficulty, (it having been found amongst the ruins of the Temple,) a small part of the chest and shoulders. How much, according to your best recollection, did remain of the numerous, and in many instances perfect, figures, which Nointel describes as existing in the west pediment? There appears to be nineteen in Monsieur Nointel’s drawing of the west pediment. I do not think, when Lord Elgin s artists began, that there were above seven or eight remaining : the whole of the centre had fallen to the ground long before the time that I was at Athens : I understood that one of the heads of the figures that are still left was broken off by a Turk, and dashed in pieces on the marble pavement. Are you acquainted with the transaction relating to the purchase of the Phygalian Marbles ? ( March 8.) Yes, I am. The best information I can give to the Committee, on the subject of the purchase of the Phygalian Marbles, is contained in a memorandum, the copy of which I put into Mr. Longs hands about ten days ago. This is the paper. [ft was rea ^ as follows.] “ Memorandum on the Purchase of the Phygalian Marbles , on Account of the British Government. “ When the first intelligence of the discovery of the Phygalian Marbles, by a party of English and German travellers, in the month of 1812, was received in England, I heard, owing to my intimacy with the family of Mr. Cockerell, father of one of the fortunate discoverers, frequent and detailed accounts of the beauty of these remains of antiquity, and the extraordinary state of preservation in which they had been found, notwithstanding the lapse of more than twenty centuries since they had been sculptured. In that, and the subsequent year, drawings of the bas-reliefs were received in England by various hands ; particularly some very correct ones by Mr. C. R. Cockerell, brought by Mr. Frederick North, all attesting the beauty of the composition, and eminently satisfactory with regard to the age in which they had been made. These drawings I saw frequently exhibited to persons the most competent to form a judgment of the merit of the originals; and they met with universal admiration, both in general society, and particularly at the meetings of the Dilettanti Society. It was on all hands hoped that they might be purchased by the British Government, and that they would not be deterred by the bad success of the negociation for the iEgina Marbles, from becoming competitors also for these. These feelings were also expressed by several of the Trustees of the British Museum, but in such geneial terms, that I was not very sanguine of what seemed to be the wish of all being brought about by the efficient co-operation of a few; though I was aware that this offered the only chance of success. Perhaps the failure of the two successive attempts, which had been made for the pur- chase of the iEgina Marbles, damped, in some measure, the disposition of those who, from their public situation and correct judgment in all matters of taste, were qualified and entitled to interfere. However it was, the time for the public sale, announced for the 1st of May, 1814, was fast approaching, and no steps were taken for the attainment of the object, of which I was I V I it tUj '<( !* , tj 24 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE William Hamilton, aware, beyond a few visits, which I received about that time from General Turner, to express the — hopes of the Prince Regent, to whom the drawings, brought home by Mr. North, had been submitted by Mr. Cockerell, the father, that the Marbles in question would be purchased ; and from Mr. Planta, to express the same hopes on the part of the British Museum, though un- authorized officially by the Trustees. “ With regard to the supposed value of these Marbles, as none had been seen in England, and scarcely any traveller of taste or judgment who had seen them at Corfu, except Mr. North, had given his opinion in this country as to their relative or comparative merit; the only criterions that any one could go by were, first, a comparison between the drawings of them and the original works of Phidias in the Elgin Collection : and, secondly, the price put upon them by the proprietors, below which it was formally declared that they would not be parted with ; and a sum equal to which I was assured that one of the proprietors had offered to give, if the public sale could be dispensed with, or if no larger sum were offered. His price was <£.15,000, or 60,000 Spanish dollars : the Collection might in fact be worth that sum, or more or less ; it was not possible to anticipate. However, I felt confident, from the degree of merit which it was evident they must possess, at the sight of drawings sent home by Mr. R. Cockerell, a gentleman incapable of disguise, as well as from the interest which must necessarily be felt in every work of Grecian art executed in the age of Pericles ; or, at least, in that immediately subsequent. Considering likewise the general disappointment and regret which would be felt if the moment were lost, and they should irrecoverably get into the hands of one of the Continental Sovereigns, I was convinced that it would be desirable, for the cause of the arts in England, that the purchase should, if possible, be effected. “ Lold Castlereagh being at this time absent on the Continent, I applied forthwith to the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Colonial Secretary of State ; and on laying before them the above considerations, I received from them severally their consent, that the Governor of Zante should be authorized to effect the purchase, at a public sale, to the amount mentioned. A messenger was immediately sent off, who arrived a few days previous to the sale, and the bargain was concluded for 60,000 dollars.” Was the purchase effected at £. 15,000?— The price was 60,000 dollars; by the course of exchange it came to <£.19,000. To w * lat circumstance was it owing a public sale could not be dispensed with? — Because the property belonged half to Germans and half to Englishmen, and they would not allow any one, even of the discoverers, to make the purchase, without a public sale. Mr. Lee, one of the Englishmen a gentleman of large fortune in Warwickshire, I was assured, offered the money if he was allowed to take them without a public sale, and I have that in Mr. Cockerell’s hand-writing. Do you know what the expense of bringing them to England was?— No, I do not; they came over in a ship of war or a transport, therefore I should think the expense would be very little. You mentioned that the Public were disappointed respecting the rEgina Marbles ; in what way was that? They were discovered, about two years before, by two English travellers and two German travellers. Mr. Cockerell was one of the English discoverers, and he wrote a detailed account of it r-T non 'T- mentloned ’ that the ¥alue the J set u P°n them at Athens, at that time, was T,6 0 ° 0 . This being communicated, and being the subject of conversation at the Dilettanti Society, Lord Haidwicke who is a member of that society, and a trustee of the British Museum, undertook to i ecommend to the trustees of the British Museum, to request the authority of Government to make an offer <£.6,000. The offer was made in the first instance through Mr. Cockerell ; but on these con- ditions that we should be allowed to bring home the Marbles to England ; and, if they were found worth <£,6,000, that we should have the refusal of them ; if not, they should be allowed to be exported, EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 25 free of duty, for any other purchaser. This offer having arrived at Athens, was not accepted , for they said it was a kind of blind bargain ; that they did not know what might become of them. After- wards the British Museum sent out Mr. Combe, the superintendant of Antiquities, to Malta, to bid <£.8,000, at a sale of them expected to take place on the first of November. He arrived a few days before that date : he waited the month of November, but no sale took place, and he left his commis- sion with the Governor of the island ; but in the mean time a private sale had taken place at Zante to the Prince Royal of Bavaria; but, notwithstanding they were sold to the Prince Royal of Bavaria, they were conveyed for a few months to Malta, for greater security : And there was a considerable difference of opinion, whether we ought not to have insisted upon a second, sale, having been disap- pointed in the first sale not having taken place at Malta, as it was publicly announced ; but it was ultimately determined to give up the matter. Can you state what sum the Prince Royal of Bavaria gave for those Marbles ? — I understood £. 6 , 000 . Do you know of what those iEgina Marbles consisted? — I think there were seventeen figures with sixteen heads, which were found under the two pediments of the Temple of Jupiter at iEgina. Of what proportions were the figures? — I should say between three and four feet. Do you recollect what part of the Collection of my Lord Elgin was received after the year 1812? — Yes : I have here a memorandum, which I will read in answer to the question. — •“ I have not been able to ascertain, with precision, all the objects of sculpture and architecture which were added to Lord Elgin’s Collection in the year 1812 ; but the following list contains the descriptions of all which are already ascertained : A. From the Tympanum. The neck and shoulders of the colossal central figure of the west pediment, called by Visconti, Neptune. The forehead and eye-sockets of Minerva. Two horses’ heads in one block. B. Metopes. Three Metopes, called severally, in Visconti’s list, Nos. 6, 9 , and 13 : they are three of the most perfect in the Collection. C. Frieze. Twenty slabs of the Procession, of which eighteen are marked 1812 : the other two are not yet ascertained. Eight or ten of these eighteen are amongst the least mutilated of the Collection : six of them are very much mutilated. D. Detached Pieces of Sculpture, $c. Ten or twelve heads of statues from Athens. A large proportion of the marble vases, with sculptures and inscriptions. All the sepulchral monumental sculptures ; which, however, are of later times, and of inferior merit. All the earthen vases from Athens. All the ex-votos. The Sarcophagus, with a cover, which is in very bad taste, and worth only the marble. An antique lyre, in cedar wood. Two antique flutes, in cedar wood. E 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6. 7 . 8 . 9 - 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . William Hamilton, Esq. 26 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE William Hamilton t Esq. 14. A richly-wrought bronze urn, with a marble urn which enclosed it. 15. A variety of inscriptions, which I have not yet been able to ascertain; but which I can designate on reference to a book, in which I copied all which were received at an earlier date. The inscriptions of the greatest interest were, however, received prior to 1812. 16. The medals added here, as they were not included in the offer to Mr. Perceval. Of what antiquity do you consider the lyre and the flutes? — I have always conceived them to be of the best times of Greece — the time of the Grecian Republic. Have you looked at this Collection with any view to its money value? — Yes, I have: I have made a valuation, which I will read if it is desired. Theseus * <£.4,000 Ilissus 4,000 Female Group 4,000 Ditto ditto 4,000 Iris 2,000 Three Horses’ Heads • • 2,000 Torso of Neptune • m . . * • ■ 500 Remainder of the Pediment * • • • ■ 2,000 22,500 Pediment. Metopes (19) 10,000 Fifty-three pieces of at <£.400 20,300 Bacchus 1,000 Caryatis 700 Casts from the Parthenon 1,000 Doric Columns and Architecture 400 Ionic ditto, and ditto 800 Inscriptions * 2,000 Etruscan Bas-reliefs 200 Vases from Athens 400 Bronze Vase 200 Medals 800 Drawings 500 £’.60,800 Articles on which no Value whatever is set in the foregoing List : Casts from the Temple of Theseus. Ditto from the Choragie Monument. Sun Dial. Various Heads from Athens. An unique Lyre in cedar wood. Two Flutes in ditto. Sarcophagus — Fragments of Architecture and Sepulchral Monuments. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 27 Lima, 4° die Martii , 1816. HENRY BANKES, Esq. in the Chair. Joseph Nollekens, Esq. R. A. called in , and Examined. ARE you well acquainted with the Collection of Marbles brought to England by Lord Elgin?— I am. What is your opinion of those Marbles as to the excellency of the work? — They are very fine; the finest things that ever came to this country. In what class do you place them, as compared with the finest Marbles which you have seen formerly in Italy? — I compare them to the finest of Italy. Which of those of my Lord Elgin's do you hold in the highest estimation? — I hold the Theseus and the Neptune two of the finest things ; finer than any thing in this country. In what class do you place the bas reliefs? — They are very fine, among the first class of bas relief work. Do you think that the bas reliefs of the Centaurs are in the first class of art? — I do think so. Do you think the bas relief of the frieze, representing the Procession, also in the first class of the art? — In the first class of the art. Do you conceive those two sets to be of or about the same date? — I cannot determine upon that. Have you ever looked at this Collection with a view to the value of it? — No, I have not. Can you form any sort of estimate of the value of it? — I cannot say any thing about the value. Do you think it very desirable, as a National object, that this Collection should become public property ? — Undoubtedly. Can you form any judgment as to the date of those works, comparing them with other works that you have seen in Italy? — I suppose they are about as old; but they may be older or later. To which of the works you have seen in Italy do you think the Theseus bears the greatest resem- blance? — I compare that to the Apollo Belvidere and Laocoon. Do you think the Theseus of as fine sculpture as the Apollo ? — I do. Do you think it is more or less of ideal beauty than the Apollo ? — I cannot say it is more than the Apollo. Is it as much ? — I think it is as much. Do you think that the Theseus is a closer copy of fine nature than the Apollo? — No; I do not say it is a finer copy of nature than the Apollo. Is there not a distinction amongst artists, between a close imitation of nature and ideal beauty ? — I look upon them as ideal beauty and closeness of study from nature. You were asked just now if you could form any estimate of the value of this Collection ; can you put any value upon them comparatively with the Townley Marbles ? — I reckon them very much higher than the Townley Marbles for beauty. Suppose the Townley Marbles to be valued at <£.20,000, what might you estimate these at? — They are quite a different thing : I think the one is all completely finished and mended up, and these are real fragments as they have been found, and it would cost a great deal of time and expense to put them in order. For the use of artists, will they not answer every purpose in their present state? — Yes, perfectly; 1 would not have them touched. Joseph Nollekens, Esq. Joseph NolleJcens, Esq. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Have you seen the Greek Marbles lately brought to the Museum ? — I have. How do you rank those in comparison with these? — Those are very clever, but not like those of Lord Elgin’s. Then you consider them very inferior? — No ; I consider them inferior to Lord Elgin’s; not very inferior, though they may be called inferior. Were you ever in Greece yourself? — No, never further than Rome and Naples. When you studied in Italy, had you many opportunities of seeing remains of Grecian art? — I saw all the fine things that were to be seen at Rome, in both painting and sculpture. Do you remember a piece of bas relief representing Bacchus and Icarus in the Townley Collection? X recollect all those things ; I used to spend my Sundays there with Mr. Townley. Do you happen to recollect particularly that piece? — No, I do not recollect it among the great quantity of things. Have you formed any idea of the value of these objects in the light of acquisitions to individuals, as objects of decoration, if sold individually ? — I cannot put a value upon them; they are by far the finest things that ever came to this country. Do you mean by that, that you consider them so valuable, that you cannot put a value upon them ? — No, I do not know; as to fine things, they are not to be got every day. Do you consider part of the value of the Townley Collection to have depended upon the cost and labour incurred in restoring them? — As for restoring them, that must have cost a great deal of money : I know Mr. Townley was there for years about them. Have the Elgin Collection gained in general estimation and utility since they have been more known and studied ? — Yes. John Flaxman , Esq. V John Flaxman, Esq. R. A. called in , and Examined. Are you well acquainted with the Elgin Collection of Marbles? — Yes, I have seen them . frequently, and I have drawn from them ; and I have made such inquiries as I thought necessary concerning them respecting my art. In what class do you hold them, as compared with the first works of art which you have seen before? — The Elgin Marbles are mostly bassonrelievos, and the finest works of art I have seen. Those in the Pope’s Museum, and the other galleries of Italy, were the Laocoon, the Apollo Belvidere ; and the other most celebrated works of antiquity were groups and statues. These differ in the respect that they are chiefly basso-relievos, and fragments of statuary. With respect to their excellence, they are the most excellent of their kind that I have seen ; and I have every reason to believe that they were executed by Phidias, and those employed under hirq, or the general design of them given by him at the time the Temple was built; as we are informed he was the artist principally employed by Pericles and his principal scholars, mentioned by Pliny, Alcamenes, and about four others immediately under him ; to which he adds a catalogue of seven or eight others, who followed in order; and he mentions their succeeding Phidias in the course of twenty years. I believe they are the works of those artists ; and in this respect they are superior almost to any of the works of antiquity, excepting the Laocoon and Toro Earnese ; because they are known to have been executed by the artists whose names are recorded by the ancient authors. With respect to the beauty of the basso-relievos, they are as perfect nature as it is possible to put into the compass of the marble in which they are executed, and that of the most elegant kind. There is one statue also which is called a Hercules or Theseus, of the first order of merit. The fragments are finely executed ; but I do not, in my own estimation, think their merit is as great. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. What fragments do you speak of? — Several fragments of women ; the groups without their heads. You do not mean the Metopes? — No; those statues which were in the east and west pediments originally. In what estimation do you hold the Theseus, as compared with the Apollo Belvidere and the Laocoon? — If you would permit me to compare it with a fragment, I will mention, I should estimate it before the Torso Belvidere. As compared with the Apollo Belvidere, in what rank do you hold the Theseus? 'For two reasons, I cannot at this moment very correctly compare them in my own mind. In the first place, the Apollo Belvidere is a divinity of a higher order than the Hercules ; and therefore I cannot so well compare the two. I compared the Hercules with a Hercules before, to make the comparison more just. In the next place, the Theseus is not only on the surface corroded by the weather ; but the head is in that impaired state, that I can scarcely give an opinion upon it ; and the limbs are mutilated. To answer the question, I should prefer the Apollo Belvidere certainly, though I believe it is only a copy. Does the Apollo Belvidere partake more of ideal beauty than the Theseus ? — In my mind it does decidedly : I have not the least question of it. Do you think that increases its value? — Yes, very highly. The highest efforts of art in that class have always been the most difficult to succeed in, both among ancients and moderns, if they have suc- ceeded in it. i Supposing the state of the Theseus to be perfect, would you value it more as a work of art than, the Apollo? — No; I should value the Apollo for the ideal beauty before any male statue I know. Although you think it is a copy ? — I am sure it is a copy ; the other is an original, and by a first rate artist. The Committee is very anxious to know the reason you have for stating so decidedly your opinion that the Apollo is a copy? — There are many reasons; and I am afraid it would be troublesome to the Committee to go through them. The general appearance of the hair, and the mantle of the Apollo Belvidere, is in the style more of bronze than of marble ; and there is mentioned in the Pope s Museum (Pio Clementino) by the Chevalier Visconti, who illustrated that museum, that there was a statue in Athens, I do not know whether it was in the city or some particular temple, or whether the place is mentioned, an Apollo Alexicacos, a driver away of evil, in bronze, by Calamis, erected on account of a plague that had been in Athens : from the representations of this statue in basso-relievos with a bow', it is believed that this figure might be a copy of that. One reason I have given is, that the execution of the hair and cloak resembles bronze. But another thing convinces me of its being a copy: I had a conversation with Visconti and Canova on the spot; and my particular reason is this, a cloak hangs over the left arm, which in bronze it was easy to execute, so that the folds on one side should answer to the folds on the other ; the cloak is single, and therefore it is requisite that the folds on one side should answer to the folds on the other ; there is no duplication of drapery : in bronze that w r as easy to execute, but in marble it was not ; therefore, I presume, the copyist preferred copying the folds in front, but the folds did not answer to each other on one side and the other ; those on the back appear to have been calculated for strength in the marble, and those in front to represent the bronze, from which I apprehend they were copied. There is apother reason ; lyliich is, that the most cele- brated figure of antiquity is mentioned by Pliny and its sculptor, the y enus of Cnidus by Praxiteles ; and he mentions it in- a remarkable manner, for he says, the works of Praxiteles in the Ceramicus, not only excel those of all other sculptors, but his own ; and this Venus excels all that he ever did. Now it seems inconceivable, that so fine a statue as the Apollo could have been executed without it§ name being brought down to us, either by Pliny or Pausanias, if it had been esteemed the first statue in thp world. John Flaxman, Esq. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Do you think it of great consequence to the progress of art in Britain that this Collection should become the property of the Public? — Of the greatest importance, I think ; and I always have thought so, as an individual. Do you conceive practically, that any improvement has taken place in the state of the arts in this country, since this Collection has been open to the Public ?— Within these last twenty years I think sculpture has improved in a very great degree, and I believe my opinion is not singular ; but unless I was to take time to reflect upon the several causes, of which that has been the consequence, I cannot pretend to answer the question : I think works of such prime importance could not remain in the country without improving the public taste and the taste of the artists. In wliat class do you hold the Metopes, as compared with the Frieze ? — I should think, from a parity of reasoning adopted between the Metopes and the flat basso-relievos with that adopted between the Apollo Belvidere and the Theseus or Hercules, the Metopes are preferable to the flat basso-relievos, inasmuch as the heroic style is preferable to that of common nature. Should you have judged the Metopes to be of very high antiquity if you had seen them, not know- ing from what temple they were brought? — I should certainly have taken them to be of the age to which they are attributed, the age of Phidias. What characteristic marks do you observe of high antiquity, as compared with the other works of antiquity? — In the first place, I observe a particular classification of the parts of the body; and I have adverted to the medical writer of that age, Hippocrates, and find that the distinctions of the body, when they have been taken from the finest nature in the highest state of exercise, and in the best condition, in all respects, which might be expected from those who possessed great personal beauty, and cultivated habits of living most likely to produce it, and who were accustomed to see it frequently in public exercises. This classification, which they appeared to prefer, is conformable to the distinctions in the statues. It is well known, that in the writings of Hippocrates a great deal of atteqtion is paid to the economy of the human body and its interior parts, but that its exteriors are not described as our modern anatomists describe them, but in a simpler manner, by a general classification of parts and muscles. What I would particularly say on the subject is this : Hippocrates describes the edges of the ribs as forming a semicircle at the bottom of the upper thorax; he describes, with some accuracy, the meeting and form of the upper part of the scapula and acromion with the collar bone : that part is particularly marked in these figures. He describes the knee-pan as a single bone ; and that was their manner of making the knee in the statues of that time : and, if I remember right, also he describes the upper part of the basin bone, which is particularly marked in the antique statues. In a few words, the form of the body has a classification of a simple kind in a few parts, such as I find in the ancient anatomists, and such as are common in the outlines of the painted Greek vases : besides, as far as I can judge from our documents of antiquity, the painted Greek vases for example, those that come nearer to the time in which these Marbles are believed to be produced, are conceived in the same character, and drawn in the same manner. Did not that classification continue much later than the time of Pericles?— Yes, it did continue later, but it became more complicated, and in some cases more geometrical. Does the anatomy of these figures agree with the anatomy of the Laocoon or of the Toro Farnese ? —They agree most with the loro Farnese. I cannot judge very accurately of that at this time, for it was about to be removed from Rome at the time I was there, and it is very much broken. * In respect to the Laocoon, I believe it to be a very posterior work, done after a time when considerable discoveries had been made in anatomy in the Alexandrian school ; which I think had been com- municated not only among physicians, but among artists all over Greece; and in the Laocoon the divisions are much more numerous. Do you observe any considerable difference in the conformation of the horses, between the Metopes and the Procession ?— It is to be recollected, both in the Metopes and the Procession, that ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 31 different hands have been employed upon them, so that it is difficult, unless I had them before me, to give a distinct opinion, particularly as the horses in the metopes have not horses’ heads : 1 do not think I can give a very decided opinion upon it, but in general the character appears to me very much the same. Should you have judged the metopes and the frieze to be of the same age, if they had not come from the same Temple? — Yes, undoubtedly I should. Have you ever looked at this Collection, with a view to its value in money ? — I never have ; but I conceive that the value in money must be very considerable, judging only from the quantity of sculpture in it ; the question never occurred to me before this morning, but it appears to me that there is a quantity of labour equal to three or four of the greatest public monuments that have lately been erected ; and I think it is said, either in Chandler’s Inscriptions or in Stuart’s Athens, that the Temple cost a sum equal to c£.500,000. Have you seen the Greek Marbles lately deposited in the British Museum? — Yes. In what class do you place those, as compared with the basso-relievos of Lord Elgin’s Collection ? — ’With respect to the excellence of workmanship, the metopes and the basso-relievos of Procession are very superior to those in the Museum, though the composition of the others are exquisite. Which do you think the greatest antiquity ? — Lord Elgin’s ; the others I take to be nearly twenty years later. In what rate do you class these Marbles, as compared with Mr. Townley’s Collection? — I should value them more, as being the ascertained works of the first artists of that celebrated age : the greater part of Mr. Townley’s Marbles, with some few exceptions, are perhaps copies, or only acknowledged inferior works. Do you reckon Lord Elgin’s Marbles of greater value, as never having been touched by any modern hand ? — Yes. In what class do you hold the draped figures, of which there are large fragments? They are fine specimens of execution ; but in other respects I do not esteem them very highly, except- ing the Iris, and a fragment of the Victory. Do you consider those to be of the same antiquity ? — I do. Be pleased to account for the difference in their appearance? — I think sculpture at that time made a great stride. Phidias having had the advantage of studying painting, first gave a great freedom to his designs; that freedom he was able to execute, or to have executed, with great ease in small and flat works; but as the proportions of the particular drawings of the figures were not so well understood generally as they were a few years afterwards, there are some disproportions and inaccuracies in the larger figures: the necessary consequences of executing great works when the principles of an art are not well established. Do you recollect two figures, that are sitting together with the arms over each other? — Yes. Is your low estimation of the draped figures applicable to those? — My opinion may be incorrect, and it may be more so by not having the figures before me; but I meant my observa- tion to apply to all the draped figures. Were the proportions of those statues calculated to have their effect at a particular distance? I believe not; I do not believe the art had arrived at that nicety. You have remarked probably those parts, particularly of the Neptune and some of the Metopes, that are in high perfection, from having been preserved from the weather? — I have remarked those that are in the best condition. Did you ever see any statue higher finished than those parts, or that could convey an idea of high finish more completely to an artist? — I set out with saying, that the execution is admirable. In those particular parts have not you observed as high a finish as in any statue that ever you saw? — Y eS ; a nd in some places a very useless finish, in my opinion. John Tlaxman, Esq. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE John Flaxman, Esq. Richard Wt estmacott, Esq. Do you think the Theseus and the Neptune of equal merit, or is one superior to the other ? Chevalier Canova, when I conversed with him on the subject, seemed to think they were equal ; I think the Ilissus is very inferior. You think the Ilissus is inferior to the Theseus? — Extremely inferior: and I am convinced, if I had had an opportunity of considering it with Chevalier Canova, he would have thought so too. Can you inform the Committee, whether the climate of England is likely to have a different effect upon the statues, from the climate from which they were brought, and whether it would be possible, by keeping them under cover, to prevent the effect of the climate? — • Entirely. You know the bas relief in the Townley Collection of Bacchus and Icarus? — Yes. i What do you consider the workmanship of that, comparatively with any of Lord Elgin’s bas reliefs? — Very inferior. Richard Westmacott, Esq. R. A., called in, and Examined . Are you well acquainted with the Elgin Marbles? — Yes. In what class of art do you rate them ? — I rate them of the first class of art. Do you speak generally of the principal naked figures, and of the metopes and the frieze ? — I speak generally of their being good things, but particularly upon three or four groups ; I should say that two are unequalled ; that I would oppose them to any thing we know in art, which is the River God and the Theseus. With respect to the two principal groups of the draped figures, I consider them also of their kind very superior to any thing which we have in this Country in point of execution. Do you reckon the metopes also in the first class of art ? — I should say generally, for style, that I do. Do you say the same of the frieze ? — I think, both for drawing and for execution, that they are equal to any thing of that class of art that I remember. Do the metopes and the frieze appear to you to be of the same age ? — They do not appear to me to be worked by the same person, but they appear to me of the same age ; the mind in the com- positions, the forms, and consent of action, only lead me to think so ; their execution being not only unequal in themselves^ but very inferior to the Panathenasan Procession. Do the general proportions of the horses appear to you to be the same ? — Generally so, I think. Should you have judged the metopes to be of very high antiquity, if you had not known the Temple from which they came? — I should consider them so from their form. In what rate should you place the Theseus and the River God, as compared with the Apollo Belvidere and the Laocoon ? — Infinitely superior to the Apollo Belvidere. And how as to the Laocoon? — As to the Laocoon, it is a very difficult thing for me to answer .the question, more particularly applying to execution, because there is not so much surface to the Theseus or Ilissus as there is to the Laocoon ; the whole surface to the Laocoon is left, whereas to the other we cannot say there is more than one-third of the surface left. Which do you prefer ; the Theseus, or the River God ? — They are both so excellent, that I can- not readily determine ; I should say the back of the Theseus was the finest thing in the world ; and that the anatomical skill displayed in front of the Ilissus, is not surpassed by any work of art. As compared with the figures that are on Monte Cavallo, how should you class those two works ? — I consider them, in regard to nature and form, equal ; but that in playfulness of parts, the Theseus and the Ilissus are superior. Do they seem to approach nearly the same ages to execution ? — There is not sufficient surface for me to judge of the execution in either. Do you consider the remains of the draped female figures to be of the same excellence with the figures just mentioned ? — ■ Yes ; certainly. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 33 Probably the same hand ? — Yes ; I have very little doubt of it. Have you ever considered this Collection, with a view to value in money? — No, I have not. Have you any means of forming such a calculation ? — I should not know how to form such a calculation, not knowing any similar works to compare them with. In what class do you estimate the Elgin Marbles, as compared with the Townley Marbles? — Superior. Are you acquainted with the Phygalian Marbles lately brought to the British Museum ? I have seen them, and have examined them. As compared with the Elgin has reliefs, which are superior? — The Elgin bas reliefs. Which do you consider most ancient ? — I should think they are both of the same age, they both seem to be the effort of a great mind ; but that the Phygalian Marbles do not appear to have had men to execute them of the same talents with the persons who executed the others. There are parts of the Phygalian Marbles which are equal in execution to the Elgin Marbles, (I am now speaking of the draperies,) but in proportions they are unequal to the Elgin Marbles, which possess truth united with form, which is the essence of sculpture. Do you think it of great consequence to the improvement of art, that this Collection should become the property of the Public ? — Decidedly so : from the great progress which has been made in art in this country for the last fifty years, we have every reason to think, that even the present men, as well as young men rising up, having these things to look to, are less likely to be mannered. Do you think these Marbles are well calculated for forming a school of artists ? — I have no doubt of it. You state, that you think the Theseus much superior to the Apollo Belvidere; upon what particular view do you form that opinion ? — Because I consider that the Theseus has all the essence of style with all the truth of nature ; the Apollo is more an ideal figure. And you think the Theseus of superior value, on that account? — Yes; that which approaches nearest to nature, with grand form, artists give the preference to. Do you think there is any comparison as to the value between these and the Townley Marbles? — This Collection I consider as more a Collection for Government, and to form a school of study ; the Townley Marbles have a certain decided value ; you can form a better estimate of those, because you can make furniture of them ; these you could not, they are only fit for a school. The Townleyan Marbles being entire, are, in a commercial point of view, most valuable : but the Elgin Marbles, as possessing that matter which artists most require, claim a higher consideration. Do not you think they might be divided into three or four lots, thut might be desirable to different countries for that purpose ? — I think it would be a pity to break such a connected chain of art. Do not you think it would answer that purpose? — No; I think each nation would regret that it had not the other part, and that it would lower their value. Francis Ch a untry, Esq. called in, and Examined. Are you well acquainted with the Elgin Marbles? — I have frequently visited them. In what class, as to excellence of art, do you place them ? — Unquestionably in the first. Do you speak generally of the Collection? — I mean the principal part of the Collection, that part that belonged to the Temple of Minerva. As compared with the Apollo Belvidere and Laocoon, in what class should you place the Theseus and the River God? — I look upon the Apollo as a single statue; the Theseus and the River God form a part of a group. I think, looking at the group in general, I should say they are in the highest style of art; that degree of finish which you see in the Apollo, would be mischievous in them. I think they are quite in a different style of art from the Apollo. Richard W estmacott, Esq. Francis Chauntry, Esq. liif'rrmti ni iimiriiiiiii~" 34 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Francis Chauntry, Esq. Are they not more according to common, but beautiful nature, than the Apollo ? Certainly ; I mean nature in the grand style, not the simplicity of the composition visible in every part : but simplicity and grandeur are so nearly allied, it is almost impossible to make a distinction. Do you place the metopes, and the frieze of the Festival, in the highest class of art ? The frieze, I do unquestionably ; the bas relief, I mean. Do you think that superior, in execution and design, to the alto relievo ? — I do not know, speaking of them comparatively ; they are different in their style. Do they appear to you to be of the same age? — I think they do ; I never thought otherwise. Do the horses appear to you to be treated in the same manner, and to be formed according to the same principles ? — Considering the difference between basso relievo and alto relievo, I think they are; but that makes a great difference in the general appearance of them. In what class of art do you place the draped female figures ? — As applied to their situation, I place them also in the first class ; but, if they were for the inside of a building, I should say they were not in the first class ; those were for a broad light, consequently the drapery is cut into small parts, for the sake of producing effect; for we find through the whole of that Collection, effect has been their principal aim, and they have gained it in every point. Have you ever looked at this Collection, with a view towards its value in money ? — I really do not know what to compare them with. In what class should you estimate these, as compared with the Townley Marbles? -In the Townley Marbles we find individual excellence, but in these we find a great deal more ; we find individual excellence combined with grand historical composition. Do you reckon these of superior value, from never having been restored or retouched ? — I should certainly think them not the worse for being in their present state. Have you seen the Greek bas reliefs, lately brought to the Museum? — Yes, I have seen them. How do you estimate them as works of art, as compared with the Elgin bas reliefs ? — I look upon them as very fine in composition ; but in execution, what we must expect in works taken from the outside of buildings ; works done by different people : they are very fine of their kind, but in point of execution much inferior to Lord Elgin’s, and indeed inferior in design. Which appears to you to be of the highest antiquity ? — I cannot say. As compared with the figures on Monte Cavallo, how do you rate the Theseus ? — It is very much in the same style. Do you judge they are nearly of the same age? — 'That I cannot say ; that is a point that has been so much disputed. Do you think it of great importance to the art of sculpture, that this Collection should become the property of the Public? — I think it of the greatest importance in a national point of view. When you mention that these statues are rather calculated for a distant effect, do you mean they are not very highly finished? — Yes; and that is very surprising; they are finished to a high degree, but the arrangement is calculated to be seen at a great distance. 'Charles Rossi, Esq. tv ■’* Charles Rossi, Esq. R. A. called in , and Examined. Are you well acquainted with the Elgin Marbles ? — Yes. In what class of art do you reckon them ? — The finest that I have ever seen. Do you think any figures in Lord Elgin’s Collection equal to the Apollo Belvidere and the Lao- coon ? — I think they are superior in my judgment. Which do you consider as superior? — The Theseus and the River God, and the Torsos also; there are one or two of them, but they are very much mutilated. In what class of art do you reckon the metopes ? — The metopes I do not think so fine as the rest .of the bas reliefs. HH 33 ON THE EARL OF ELGIN'S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. Do you think the metopes are of the same antiquity as the frieze and other parts? — Yes, I suppose they are. Do you reckon the frieze of the Procession in the highest class of art? — Yes; they are in a supe- rior style ; I should say they were jewels. In what class do you reckon the draped female figures? — One in particular is a very fine thing, I think. Generally speaking, in what class do you place them ? In the very first. Have you looked at this Collection, with a view as to its money value? — Never. Have you seen the Greek Marbles lately brought to the British Museum? — Yes. In what class do you place them, as compared with the basso relievos of the frieze ? I consider them materially inferior to any of those of Lord Elgin s. Do you think them of the same antiquity, or later or earlier ? — I have never thought about that. Do you think it of great consequence to the progress of art in this Country, that this Collection should become the property of the Public? — I think it is; it is the first Collection in the world, I think. I wrote a note to my friend Canova, at Paris, as an inducement for him to come over, saying, — If he had not seen Lord Elgin’s Marbles, he had seen nothing yet ; and when he saw them, he was satisfied they were as fine things as he had ever seen. Mortis, 5° die Martii, 1816. HENRY BANKES, Esq. in the Chair. Sir Thomas Lawrence, Knt. R. A. called in, and Examined. Are you well acquainted with the Elgin Marbles ? Yes, I am. In what class of art do you consider them ? — In the very highest. Do you think it of importance that the Public should become possessed of those Marbles, for the purpose of forming a school of art ? — I think they will be a very essential benefit to the arts of this country, and therefore of that importance. In your own particular line of art, do you consider them of high importance, as forming a national school? — In a line of art which I have very seldom practised, but which it is still my wish to do, I consider that they would ; namely, historical painting. Have you had opportunities of viewing the antique sculpture which was formerly in Italy, and recently at Paris? — Very recently at Paris. Can you form any estimate of the comparative merit of the finest of the Elgin Marbles, as com- pared with the finest of those works of art? — It is rather difficult ; but I think that the Elgin Marbles present examples of a higher style of sculpture than any I have seen. Do you conceive any of them to be of a higher class than the Apollo Belvidere? — I do; because I consider that there is in them an union of fine composition, and very grand form, with a more true and natural expression of the effect of action upon the human frame, than there is in the Apollo, or in any of the other most celebrated statues. Are you well acquainted with the Townley Collection of Marbles? — Yes, I am. In what comparative class should you place the Elgin Marbles, as contrasted with those? — As superior. Do you consider them as more valuable than the Townley Collection? — Yes, I do. Charles Rossi, Esq. Sir Tlios. Lawrence, Knt. 36 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE I Sir Thos. Lawrence, Is that superiority, in your opinion, applied to the fitness of the Elgin Marbles for forming a school ’ of art, or is it as to what you conceive to be the money value ? — I mean as to both. Are you acquainted with the Phygalian Marbles lately brought to the Museum? — Yes. Compared with the Elgin bas reliefs, in what class do you estimate them? — I think generally, that the composition of them is very fine ; that some of the designs are fully equal to those in the Elgin Marbles ; but the execution generally is inferior. Have you any thing that leads you to form any conjecture as to the age of the Phygalian Marbles, compared with the age of the Elgin Marbles ? — I should guess that they must have been very nearly of the same age. Do you consider the metopes to be of equal or inferior sculpture to the frieze ? — I think that the frieze of the Panathenaic Procession is of equal merit throughout. I do not think the same of the metopes ; but I think that some of the metopes are of equal value with the frieze. Do they appear to you to be of the same age? — Yes, I think so. The total and entire difference of the character of relief appears to have arisen from the difference of situation in which they were placed. You have stated, that you thought these Marbles had great truth and imitation of nature; do you consider that that adds to their value ? — It considerably adds to it, because I consider them as united with grand form. There is in them that variety that is produced in the human form, by the alternate action and repose of the muscles, that strikes one particularly. I have myself a very good collection of the best casts from the antique statues, and was struck with that difference in them, in returning from the Elgin Marbles to my own house. What do you think of the Theseus, compared with the Torso Belvidere? — I should say that the Torso is the nearest, in point of excellence, to the Theseus. It would be difficult to decide in favour of the Theseus; but there are parts of the Torso in which the muscles are not true to the action, and they invariably are in what remains of the Theseus. Do you happen to know at what price that was valued in the Collection at the Louvre ? — I do not. You have seen the Hercules of Lord Lansdowne’s Collection? — Yes. What comparison does that bear to the Theseus or the Neptune? — I think it inferior. Do you think it much inferior ? — There are parts that are very inferior. There are parts in that that are very grand, and parts very inferior. Do you think any estimate might be placed on these Marbles, by comparison with pictures ? — fro; it would be very difficult: I cannot do it myself. Do you consider, on the whole, the Theseus as the most perfect piece of sculpture, of a single figure, that you have ever seen ? — Certainly, as an imitation of nature; but as an imitation of character I could not decide, unless I knew for what the figure was intended. Richard Payne Knight, Esq. called in, and Examined. R. P. Knight, Are you acquainted with the Elgin Collection ? — Yes ; I have looked them over, not only former- — ty> I have looked them over on this occasion, with reference to their value. In what class of art do you place the finest works in this Collection ? — I think of things extant, I should put them in the second rank — some of them : they are very unequal ; the finest I should put in the second rank. Do you think that none of them rank in the first class of art? — Not with the Laocoon and the Apollo, and these which have been placed in the first class of art ; at the same time I must observe, that their state of preservation is such, I cannot form a very accurate notion ; their surface is gone mostly. Do you consider them to be of a very high antiquity ? — We know from the authority of Plutarch, that those of the Temple of Minerva, which are the principal, were executed by Callicrates and Ictinus, ON THE EARL OF ELGIN'S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 37 and their assistants and scholars; and I think some were added in the time of Hadrian, from the style of them. - mt Do you consider what is called the Theseus and the River God, as works of that age. River God I should think, certainly — of the Theseus I have doubts whether it was in that age, or added by Hadrian ; there is very little surface about it, therefore I cannot tell : the River God is very fine. Do you consider the River God as the finest figure in the Collection ? Yes, I do. . In what class do you rank the fragments of the draped female figures ? — They are so mutilated I can hardly tell, but I should think most of them were added by Hadrian ; they are so mutilated I cannot say much about them : they are but of little value except from their local interest, from having been part of the Temple. . . f In what class of art do you consider the metopes ? — The metopes I consider of the first class ot relief: I think there is nothing finer ; but they are very much corroded : there are some of them very poor ; but the best of them I consider as the best works of high relief. Do you consider them as of high antiquity ? — I consider most of them as executed at the time o the original building ; the others might have been finished since. What proportion of them do you think are of the first class? — I should think a half at least. In what class of art do you reckon the frieze of the Procession ? I think it is of the first c ass o low relief : I know nothing finer than what remains of it ; there is very little of it. Do you consider that as of the same high antiquity? — Certainly; all of it I think has been exe- cuted at the first building of the Temple, as far as I can judge; they are very much mutilated. Can you form any judgment as to what may be the money value of that Collection, or of the parts . I have gone over them to make an estimate, and I will state the grounds on which I have done it , I have been over them three times, to form the value. I value that statue of Venus, which Lor Lansdowne paid £. 700 for, at £. 1,400; and I valued Lord Elgin’s accordingly; and I put °n i fi ty per cent, in consideration of their local interest. I valued the draped figures, w hich I think wou worth very little if it were not for their local interest, at ■£. 2000. I do not know the \alue o t e drawings. [The Witness delivered in a paper, which was read as follows.] “ Such of the Sculptures of the Temple of Minerva at Athens, as are of the time of Pericles, are the work of Callicrates and Ictinus, or their assistants and scholars, to which the testimony of Plutarch, the only ancient authority, is precise — rov Si ix not only from the excellence of the work, but as belonging to the most celebrated Temple in Greece, and as affording undoubted specimens of the state of art at the time of its greatest perfection in that country. The other class comprises a great collection of inscriptions from different parts of Greece, which are extremely interesting from their high antiquity, and peculiarities of language ; they afford historical documents of the progress and changes of the Greek language, which I think it would be difficult to find elsewhere : this, it is obvious, to private individuals would be comparatively of little value, but in a national point of view, especially where attention is paid to the study of the Greek language, I conceive them to be of considerable importance. There are also other objects of more or less value ; and I would particularly mention the architectural fragments, which are members of some of the most perfect buildings in Greece. On the whole, therefore, from these considerations, if I name the sum of five-and thirty-thousand pounds, I feel confident that the late Government of France would willingly have given a greater amount ; and I am not at all certain that some of the Governments of Europe, notwithstanding the present state of their finances, might not be disposed to exceed that also. Has your Lordship any reason to know that the late Government of France had it at all in con- templation to offer a sum? — It is from no positive knowledge of any such offer, buf from the general impression and opinion among persons in Paris who were listened to, that I conceive it probable. Does your Lordship happen to know whether there are any princes in Europe who are now collecting and will be likely to purchase such a Collection, if offered to them ? — I think it extremely probable the King of Bavaria might, but I have no knowledge of that ; and very possibly the Emperor of Russia ; indeed the King of Prussia has bought a large collection of pictures : but this is mere conjecture. Your Lordship has no doubt of the importance it would be to this Country, as the foundation of a national school of art, as well as from the other considerations you have mentioned, to purchase this Collection? — I have certainly a very high opinion of this Collection, both with respect to the art, and as interesting objects of antiquity. In your Lordship’s opinion, could any private traveller have had opportunities of accomplishing the removal of these Marbles ; or does your Lordship imagine it would have been necessary to take\ advantage of the authority and influence a public situation gives? — I do not think a private individual The Earl of Aberdeen. 48 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE could have accomplished the removal of the remains which Lord Elgin obtained. I will state a fact concerning myself : when I was at Constantinople, I happened on going there to have some interest in a question that had been a good deal discussed at the time, concerning the credibility of Homer’s relation of the Siege of Troy ; and I thought a very natural method of procuring some sort of illustra- tion of that, would be to open some of the barrows and mounds which remained in that country, and which are appropriated to different heroes. I accordingly obtained permission at Constantinople to open such of those tumuli as I thought fit; and I went to the Plain of Troy in company with the Captain Pacha of the time, who gave me every sort of assistance in his power ; but the natives opposed such obstacles, that I was unable to effect it : Therefore I conceive it certainly must have required very considerable influence not only with the Government, but in the country, to be able to carry it into execution. Does not your Lordship think there would be considerable difference in point of difficulty, in removing any remains from a building in existence, and excavating and removing things under ground ? — Very possibly ; but it is very difficult to say what might be the conduct of the Turkish Government; it seems to be governed entirely by caprice ; at one time there might be no difficulty, and at other times it might be very difficult. Your Lordship is not aware of any permission given to individual travellers, of the same nature as that given to Lord Elgin? — No, I am not; but again I would beg to be understood, as not saying it would be refused ; I obtained the permission I asked for from the Government without any dif- ficulty. That was a permission to excavate? — Yes. In point of fact, your Lordship obtained all the facility from the Turkish Government which you wished for? — I certainly did. Can your Lordship form any judgment whether a great expense was not necessarily incurred by- Lord Elgin, in these operations? — -Very great indeed. Not only with regard to conducting the operations, but towards conciliating the good-will of the local authorities ? — I dare say it might have been necessary, in obtaining any such permission, to con- ciliate those authorities by means of presents ; but the difficulty of removing the objects themselves was very great indeed. I think w'hen I was Athens, there w f as but one cart in the whole city, and that did not appear calculated to bear any great weight. Can your Lordship form any estimate whatever of the probable degree of expense that Lord Elgin must have incurred there? — Indeed I cannot ; but it must have been very great. Does your Lordship conceive that the value of £. 35,000, which you are inclined to suggest, would cover all the expenses that may probably have arisen from this removal? — I have no knowledge what- ever of the expenses incurred ; they must have been very great, perhaps to that amount. Does your Lordship happen to recollect that a ship belonging to my Lord Elgin, containing a considerable portion of those Marbles, was lost off the island of Cerigo, and afterwards weighed ? — Yes. Does your Lordship include in the sum of five-and-thirty thousand pounds the Medals? — No, I do not ; I include nothing but the Marbles, the Inscriptions, and Sculpture. Does your Lordship include the casts and moulds? — The estimate I have given is a very general one; it never had occurred to me to separate the Casts and the Marbles; certainly I did not consider the Casts as of any great value. Y our Lordshi P h »s alluded to the circumstance of the head of the figure called Hadrian having been broken off during the time your Lordship was at Athens, is your Lordship enabled to give an opinion as to bow the Committee might estimate the service done to art, or the disservice, by the removal of the other fragments?- I think the danger the Marbles at Athens were in, arose not so ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 49 much from the destruction by the Turks, as from the frequency of travellers going to that country, and from the continued endeavours of the French Government to obtain possession of them ; and therefore I think that at no great distance of time they probably might have been removed from Athens; and in that view, I certainly have always been very well pleased to see them here. Was your Lordship apprised of the steps taken by Count de Choiseul for their removal ? — I frequently heard of it. In fact, not one of the figures on either of the pediments was perfect? — No, I believe not ; they had suffered very much from the Turks at one time ; but that violence had subsided completely ; the Turks never injured them, they never thought of them. Had Lord Elgin purchased the two houses under the Eastern pediment, at the time your Lord- ship was there? — He had ; the temple was cleared in consequence. It was in those houses, and in the excavations under them, that he found some considerable part of the Marbles ? — I believe so. Has your Lordship any opinion whether these sculptures are the work of Phidias ? — I have no idea that any of them are the works of Phidias ; but, from the testimony of ancient authors, > there can be no doubt that the whole was executed under his immediate direction. From the great difference in merit between some of these Marbles, is it not probable that they were executed by different artists? — Very probably ; but in a temple of that description, magnificent, and superintended by Phidias, I have no doubt the artists were good. Does not your Lordship consider it highly probable that Phidias may himself not only have designed, but even touched some of the heads, or the naked figures, that were in the Tympanum of the Parthenon ? — I should think probably not : I have said, I have no doubt the whole was executed under his immediate direction. From the nature of the work, your Lordship cannot judge whether that was the case or not ? — The surface of most of the sculptures is so corroded, it is difficult to see the hand of a master upon it. Is your Lordship of opinion that the designs of these pieces of sculpture were probably furnished by Phidias himself? — I think very probably, but of that I can be no better judge than the Committee ; it is from ancient testimony I judge. Is there any work so incontestably the work of Phidias, with which your Lordship can compare them, that your Lordship can form any opinion upon the subject? — I believe there is no work existing incontestably of Phidias ; one of the statues on the Monte Cavallo, at Rome, has been called the work of Phidias. Has your Lordship ever seen the Phygalian Marbles ? — I have. How do you estimate the Value of those Marbles, in comparison, with Lord Elgin’s ? — I consider those Marbles to be of the same age, and of the same scale of excellence : in many respects they are better preserved ; but, on the other hand, they are in other respects not so interesting as Lord Elgin’s. In what respect does your Lordship consider them as inferior to Lord Elgin’s? — In the first place, although I do not believe that any of these Marbles were touched by Phidias, I consider they receive an additional interest from being executed immediately under his direction. The Marbles of Phygaiia came from a temple built by the same architect who was the builder of the Parthenon, but of the sculpture nothing is said. By what architect was the temple of Phygaiia built ? — By Ictinus. Does not your Lordship think that the manual execution of the Phygalian Marbles is extremely inferior to those of the Parthenon ? — The relief is much bolder, and perhaps the workmanship may be inferior to the best of Lord Elgin’s Marbles. Does your Lordship consider that the superior preservation in which they are, at all compensates for the inferiority of execution? — It undoubtedly adds very greatly to their value. Has your Lordship formed any relative idea of the value of the two Collections ? — I think there H The Earl of Aberdeen. 50 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE The of Aberdeen. . S. Morritt, Esq. is no comparison ; that Lord Elgin’s is greatly superior. I consider the Marbles of Phygalia to be worth about the price given for them ; and I have already stated what I considered to be the value of Lord Elgin’s. Though the Marbles’ on the Parthenon and on the temple at Phygalia may have been designed by the same artist, does not your Lordship think the execution of the Marbles of the Parthenon are so different, not to say superior, to those of Phygalia, as to render it very unlikely that they were worked by the same hand ? — I am not at all sure they were designed by the same artist : the same architect built both temples, but I will not answer for the sculpture having beer* designed by the same person. In fact, I think they are not very different ; I think the style of work is very much the same ; the difference arises from the higher relief of the Phygalian Marbles. Is the relief of the Phygalian Marbles as high as the metopes of the Parthenon? — Very nearly ; but their preservation is infinitely superior. Does your Lordship think that the proportions of the figures in the Phygalian Marbles are short and coarse in comparison to the best of the Marbles of the Parthenon ? — I think generally the style of work is the same. Does your Lordship observe any difference in the style of drapery, or whether there was the same simplicity? — I do not think the simplicity of drapery is remarkable in Lord Elgin’s Marbles ; on the contrary, I have been surprised at the complicated drapery, if I may say so, that there is in both. Does your Lordship recollect to have read, that Callicrates was employed on any other works but t;he Parthenon and the Long Wall ? — I recollect no other. John Bacon Saw re y Morritt, Esq. a Member of the House, Examined. In what year were you at Athens ? — In the spring of 1795. In what state was the Western pediment of the Parthenon at that time? — I recollect the three left hand figures, but I do not recollect that so many of the heads remained as appear in this drawing ; of the others, some of the trunks did, the centres certainly did not. In what year did you leave Athens ? — I staid at Athens nearly three months. Did you observe the head of the second figure in the Western pediment? — The head was on at that time, I recollect. Did it appear to you resembling any character that you knew, by reference to coins or statues ? — It had been said to resemble Hadrian ; the head was not very perfect, and I did not think the resem- blance so strong as to enable me to decide that it was so ; the antiquarians and the few people I saw there that knew any thing at all about it, had adopted that as a system probably from books which had been published. Do you imagine, that there is any ground for supposing the heads commonly called HJadrian and Sabina, had been added to figures which were more ancient? — I did not observe any appearance of h; but at the period that I was at Athens, my own knowledge of the subject w'as not sufficiently ma- tured to make my observation of the least consequence ; I did not know enough of the style at that period to form an adequate judgment. Was there in the Turkish Government and people a desire of preserving these remains, or die! they seem careless about their being broken to pieces aud pulled down?— When I was there, the Turkish Government totally neglected the care of such Marbles as were loose or thrown down, but certainly inteifered to prevent any Marbles from being removed which were standing and in their places. Was one of the pieces of the frie?e removed by Monsieur de Choiseul, the French ambassador, prior to your being there? — I really do not know whether it was or not; it was not done while I was there, that J recollect; it was so generally understood that the Government wished to prevent any OJN THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 51 thing from being removed, that the local governors of Athens, who were assailable by bribery, endea- J. B. S. Morritt, voured to conduct the business as secretly as they could, whenever any thing was to be removed, E ^' even of the Marbles which were down. I myself negotiated with the commander of the citadel for the removal of one or two pieces of the frieze, that were thrown down and neglected among rubbish : he was very willing to do it for a sum of money, if he could do it without the knowledge of any person whatever. This negotiation coming however to the ear of the French agent, who wanted it for himself, he prevented my getting it, by threatening the magistrate to make it known to his superiors ; in consequence of which it remained where it was. You understood there was always a great difference between the Marbles already throwm down, and those that were standing in their places? — I had endeavoured to include in the bargain one of the metopes which had not fallen, but which was so loose that it appeared on the point of coming down. I found him much more scrupulous on this point than with respect to those which had fallen ; and I think that he would not on any consideration have allowed those that were secure to be removed. I do not know how far the Government might have relaxed afterwards ; but I met with the same difficulty at Ephesus, and at Amyclas, where I wished to procure the Marbles, Lord Aberdeen has since successfully brought over ; they all were looked upon as the property of the State. The answer given to me was, that they should be extremely glad to sell them ; and the magistrate told me, he valued the money more than the Marbles, but that it was as much as his head was worth. Do you think the Greeks were anxious that those Marbles should not be removed from Athens ? — They were decidedly and strongly desirous that they should not be removed. Are you of opinion that nothing but the influence of a public character could have obtained the permission to remove these? — The different views of an arbitrary Government in Turkey change so from year to year, that I can speak to it only for the time I was there. When I was there in 1796, 1 certainly conceived nothing but the influence of a public character could obtain that permission. Do you think that even the influence of a public character could have obtained it at that time? — It is impossible, so little as I know of the politics of the Court of Turkey, to answer that question. Did you try at Constantinople to procure permission to remove any Marbles ? — I did not. Were you acquainted with any circumstances attending either the acquisitions of Monsieur Choiseul’s Marbles, or their removal from Greece ? — Monsieur Fauvel, who has since been the French Consul, I believe, and who for some time had been employed in collecting for Monsieur Choiseul, informed me that much influence had been used by Choiseul, in order to procure the Collection he made ; and a part of that Collection, which was still in Turkey, and some of it in Fauvel’s own hands, was detained by him, and by the French Ambassador for the Republic, as the property of the Great Nation, as he called it ; Monsieur Choiseul having at that time become a candidate for employment under the then existing French Government. It was considered that those Marbles which had been obtained by Monsieur Choiseul in his public character, had been obtained in a manner which constituted them the property of the French Govern- ment? — I believe they were at that time considered as the property of the French Government, under the emigration of Monsieur Choiseul, and the confiscation of his property by the Government. Are you acquainted with the Elgin Marbles? — I am. In what class of art do you esteem them? — I esteem them, many of them, as the purest specimens of the finest age of Greece. Do you consider it of consequence to the welfare of art in this Country, that this Collection should become the property of the Public ? — In my own judgment, I should say it was of the first importance to the progress of art. Have you ever looked at this Collection with a view to its money value ? — I cannot say that I can form any judgment upon that subject ; so much of the value of works of art is ideal. I consider it as unique, certainly, in point of design, apd as an undoubted specimen of the best age MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE of Greece; but the state of mutilation in which it is left, and, above all, the corrosion of much of the surface by the weather, must greatly reduce its value. Do you consider that those works were in continual danger of destruction, if they had been permitted to remain in their old places? — From the manner of the people at the time I was there, I should say that the pieces that were thrown down were liable to injury ; but that of those which remain standing, and in their places, I saw no reason whatever, except the state of decay in which time had placed them, to anticipate any destruction whatever. Did the Turks ever lire at the figures of the Tympanum? — Certainly not as a practice, nor did I ever hear of such an instance. Of the twenty figures, some of them quite perfect, which appear in Nointel’s drawing, do you recollect that more than three or four remained when you saw them, and that none of those three or four were perfect? — I recollect that none of the figures were perfect; I speak from imperfect recollection ; but I should say that seven or eight remained. I think that part of the car and horse remained, but a very imperfect part; and part of several of the others, I think six or seven, much mutilated. J. N. Tazahcrley, Esq. ‘I. <\ John Nicholas Eazakeriey, Esq. a Member of the Committee , Examined. In what year were you at Athens? — In 1810 and 1811. From your observation of the state in which the remaining monuments at Athens now are, have you reason to believe that those which were removed by Lord Elgin, would have been sub- jected to great risk and loss if that operation had not been performed ? — My impression certainly is, that all the Marbles at Athens were exposed to very considerable danger, from the avidity of travellers to acquire particular objects, and the bribery which was employed with magistrates on the spot to obtain them. I should add, that at this moment the Turks have an interest to preserve the monuments which remain upon the citadel at Athens, because they obtain money by exhibiting them. It is very obvious, from the dilapidations which took place in former years, the same causes continuing in a great degree, still to operate, that the Marbles were exposed to great risk. Does your recollection of the state of the temple agree in general with the evidence which Mr. Wilkins gave? — It does. Had you an opportunity of seeing the iEgina Marbles? — I saw them in 1811. Will you have the goodness to give the Committee your opinion of those Marbles? — The iEgina Marbles I always understood, from persons much more competent to give an opinion than myself, as pieces of sculpture, w^ere rather curious from the age of which they were specimens, than valuable from any particular beauty ; they were in considerable preservation : And there was one particularity in them which has seldom been remarked in other monuments of antiquity ; which was, that it goes to corroborate an idea that has been entertained, that the ancients painted their statues, and employed gilding on parts of the face; in the eyes of some of them there are remains of painting and gilding, which much added to their value as matters of curiosity. In your judgment then, as specimens or models of the Fine Arts, the iEgina Marbles have very little value from their beauty? — Very little from their beauty, but very great from their antiquity and their rarity. Of what age were they?— They were of the age commonly called that of Etruscan Art. You were at Athens at the time the iEgina Marbles w : ere removed ? — No ; I was there immediately prior to their removal. Do you know whether the proprietors of those Marbles experienced great difficulty in removing them out of Greece? Certainly, very great; the iEgina Marbles in 1811 were deposited in a building almost under ground, and considered there in some degree in secret ; they were not generally ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 53 shown, and it was understood that the Turkish Government had opposed impediments to their J.N. Tazakerley, removal ; and Mr. Cockerell called upon me to consult with the English Consul upon the means _ of enabling him to remove them from Athens to Zante. The English Consul, wi.3n we consulted him on the subject, told me that he felt great embarrassment on the subject, and that they must be removed either in secret or by bribery : by the Turkish Government I mean the local Government. How much prior to the age of Pericles do you conceive the date of the Aigina Marbles to be ? I do not know precisely what number of years may have intervened. Is there much of that style in Greece, called Etruscan ? I recollect hearing of one or two specimens in the Morea. Is there any thing in that style at Athens? — No; I think not. Do you know what value was put upon the iEgina Marbles? Mr. Galley Knight and myself were anxious to purchase those Marbles for the British Museum ; and we requested Mr. Lusieri to put some value upon them; at his suggestion we offered the sum of ,£.2,000; the Marbles belonging to two English proprietors, and to two Germans ; the English proprietors consenting to relinquish their share of the profits, in hopes that the Marbles should come to England : so that the offer implied that the Marbles were worth .£.4,000. I think it justice to those two English gentlemen, who made this liberal offer, to mention their names ; Mr. Cockerell and Mr. Foster. Luna, 11° die Martii, 1816. ITENRY BANKES, Esq. in the Chair. Alexander Day, Esq. called in, and Examined. ARE you acquainted with the Elgin Collection of Marbles? — Yes; I have had the pleasure to Alexander Day t visit them often. In what class of art do you rank the best of these Marbles ? — I rank them in the First Class, as I know of nothing superior to them. Which pieces among the Marbles do you rank as in the highest class? — The Theseus and the Ilissus. How do you rank these, as compared with the figures on the Monte Cavallo? — I think their merit seems to correspond, as it they were the production of the same master ; but I make a distinction between the two figures on Monte Cavallo, ranking that which tis called the work of Phidias as the highest. Is that the figure now in the King’s Mews? — Yes. Do the horses on the Monte Cavallo seem to be. of the same age and class as the Centaurs in the metopes? — Yes, I should think they do. As compared with the Apollo Belvidere, the Torso, and the Laocoon, in what rank do you estimate the Theseus and the Ilissus? — I should judge them superior; particularly were they less mutilated, a better judgment could be formed. In what particulars do you judge them to be superior? — T judge, from seeing those paits which are best preserved, that the style of the sculpture is superior to either the Apollo, the Torso, or the Laocoon. 54 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Do you mean by superior in sculpture, superior in execution, or superior in design? — I mean with respect to the style and character of the workmanship. Do you mean as they conform more to general nature, and give a more exact imitation of it? — They conform more to what the artists call Sublimated Nature; not common nature, but nature in its highest perfection. Have you been a dealer in Marbles yourself? — No, I have not; I never bought an entire statue, but any fragments that came in my way, merely for my own study and amusement. Have you ever looked at Lord Elgin’s Collection, with a view of estimating its money price ? — No, never. Have you purchased pictures of great known merit, for sale?- — I have. And you have met with a ready sale? — Yes, I have. Have you long resided in Rome? — Between 30 and 40 years in Italy, but mostly in Rome. Have you directed your attention, in the greater part of that time, to the Fine Arts in general ? — Entirely. Though not a dealer in Marbles, have you not been, in a considerable degree, conversant with transactions of that nature during your residence there? — Yes, naturally. Can you form any opinion what price might have been asked for the Theseus at Rome, supposing it to have been dug up at Hadrian’s Villa, for instance ? — In answer to that question, I can only say in what price it may be esteemed, because no purchaser would be allowed to take such an example of sculpture out of Rome ; but I cannot take upon myself to put that estimation upon so fine an object of , art ; it is not capable of pecuniary estimation, having no intrinsic value, but depending on taste. Are you not the proprietor of the cast of one of the figures from the Monte Cavallo, which is now exhibiting in the Mews ? — I am. Can you state to the Committee the prices at which any remarkable and well known statue has been sold, or offered for sale? — Yes; the statue known by the name of the Barbarini' Faun, has lately been sold for the price of about .£.3000 sterling. When was it sold? — About two years ago, to the agent of the Prince Royal of Bavaria: it was not known, at the time of the purchase, for whom it was bought. Were there any competitors for the purchase? — Yes; but as it was declared that the statue should never go out of Rome, then it was relinquished by all except the agent of the Prince Royal of Bavaria, who accepted it : after this the statue was arrested in the street, when they were removing it, and is at present deposited in the Museum at Rome. Have you any acquaintance with any of the persons who were competitors for the purchase? — Yes, Torlonia, the banker at Rome, was one. Do you know, if permission could have been obtained for the removal, whether as much or more would have been given by any of the competitors?— I can only say, that the price which was paid was considered very inadequate to its value. How do you estimate the value of that statue, as compared with any of the statues in the Elgin Collection? — I consider the Elgin Marbles as of a higher class. How do you estimate it with the Theseus? — I consider it as very inferior. Would the different state of the preservation compensate for that difference, in your opinion? — The Faun itself is not perfect ; the legs of it are restored in stucco ; the hands also; the head and torso are tolerably perfect. The statue was restored in my time, by Pacchetti. As compared with the Ilissus, how do you estimate the value of the Faun ? — I consider the Ilissus to be the superior statue by far. Is not part of the Ilissus in very perfect preservation ?— Yes, the back particularly. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, 8cc. 55 Mercurii , 13° die Martii , 1816. HENRY BANKES, Esq. in the Chair. Rev. Dr. Phi lit Hunt, LL. D. called in, and Examined. IN what year were you at Constantinople, and in what character? — I went out with Lord Elgin, as his chaplain, and occasionally acting as his secretary. ' Did you ever see any of the written permissions which were granted to him for removing the Marbles from the Temple of Minerva? — Yes ; I found on my first visit to Athens that the fermauns which had beea granted to Lord Elgin’s artists were not sufficiently extensive to attain the objects they had in view, that their operations were frequently interrupted by the Disdar or military governor of the Citadel, and by his Janizaries, and other considerable obstacles thrown in their way, by some- times refusing them admission and destroying their scaffolding : on my return, therefore, to Constan- tinople, in 1801, I advised Lord Elgin to apply to the Porte for a fermaun embracing the particular objects I pointed out to him ; and as I had been before deceived with respect to the pretended contents of a fermaun, I begged that this might be accompanied by a literal translation : the fermaun was sent with a translation, and that translation I now possess. It is left at Bedford, and I have no means of directing any person to obtain it : I would have brought it if I had been aware I should have been summoned by this Committee before I left Bedford. What was the substance of that fermaun? — It began by stating, that it was well known to the Sublime Porte that foreigners of rank, particularly English noblemen and gentlemen, were very anxious to visit and examine the works of ancient art in Greece, particularly the temples of the Idols ; that the Porte 'had always gladly gratified that wish ; and that, in order to show their particular respect to the Ambassador of Great Britain, the august Ally of the Porte, with whom they were now, and had long been, in the strictest alliance, they gave to his Excellency, and to his Secretary, and the Artists employed by him, the most extensive permission to view, draw, and model, the ancient temples of the Idols, and the sculptures upon them, and to make excavations, and to take away any stones tha* might appear interesting to them. Was this fermaun granted after the conquest of Egypt by the British arms? — It was after their first successes. Was the obstruction, which you mentioned in your former answer, before the success of the British arms? — It continued to be shown till I arrived with the second fermaun. Was the tenor of the second fermaun so full and explicit as to convey upon the face of it a right to displace and take away whatever the artists might take a fancy to? — Not whatever the artists might take a fancy to; but when the original was read to the Yaivode of Athens, he seemed disposed to gratify any wish of mine w r ith respect to the pursuits of Lord Elgin s artists ; in consequence of which I asked him permission to detach from the Parthenon the most perfect, and, as it appeared to me, the most beautiful Metope : I obtained that permission, and acted upon it immediately : I had one carefully packed and put on board a Ragusan ship, which was under my orders ; from which it was transferred to a frigate, and sent to England. The facility with which this had been obtained, induced Lord Elgin to apply for permission to lower other groupes of sculpture from the Parthenon? 56 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Rev. Dr. P. Hunt. which he did to a considerable extent, not only on the Parthenon, but on other edifices in the Acropolis. Was this under the authority of the same fermaun ? — It was.’ Was there any difficulty in persuading the Vaivode to give this interpretation to the fermaun? — • Not a great deal of difficulty. Was there any sum of money given to the Vaivode, anterior to his interpretation of the fermaun ? * — Presents were given to him at the time of presenting the fermaun ; but I am not aware of any money being given. , Do you recollect what was the essential difference of the two fermauns? — I never saw any translation of the first, but found it had been inefficient. Have you any idea of the difficulty and expense of obtaining the fermauns from the Porte ? — I am not aware of difficulty or expense being incurred at Constantinople in obtaining that fermaun. Did you ever hear of any negotiations with the servants of the Sultana Validk? — I recollect none; .but that negotiation might have taken place without my knowledge; and, if it did, it must have been through the agency of the dragoman of the British embassy. Have you any information to give the Committee with regard to the expense incurred in the way of bribes, either in obtaining the fermaun at Constantinople, or on acting upon it at Athens? — Nothing sufficiently precise, to enable me even to conjecture the amount. Did Lord Elgin’s local expenses at Athens pass through your hands ? — No; I merely gave the presents to the local authorities on my audience. Can you give any information to the Committee respecting the subsequent expenses incurred by Lord. Elgin in the operation of removing the Marbles, and bringing them to England?— No, I cannot. Was there any interference used by any persons to prevent the removal of these Marbles? — Not that I recollect; as the permission to lower the Metope was given me by the Vaivode, who has the highest authority at Athens. Was any opposition shown by any class of the natives? — None. Did you continue at Athens after the removal of the first Metope ? — I remained there a few weeks, and revisited Athens subsequently. uia Eora Elgin experience any difficulty in removing his Marbles from Turkey?— Interruptions were given by some of the Janizaries residing in the Acropolis, from fear of their houses being injured by the operations of his Lordship s artists ; but those houses were bought by his Lordship and pulled down, and excavations made where they had stood : no subsequent opposition was given on the part of the Turkish Government, and I found the common inhabitants of Athens always very ready to act as labourers in removing the sculptures. Do you conceive that a fermaun of such extensive powers would have been granted by the Turkish Government at any other period, to any British subject ? — Certainly not; and if it had not been at so favourable a moment, I should not have thought of proposing many of the requests it contained. Do you think that any British subject, not in the situation of ambassador, would have been able to obtain from the Turkish Government a fermaun of such extensive powers?— Certainly not. , y0ur ° pin !° n ’ was this P e ™ ission given to Lord Elgin entirely in consequence of the situation he held as British ambassador?— I am inclined, to think such a permission would not have been asked for by any person not an ambassador of a highly favoured ally, nor granted to any other individual. Does it appear to you, that the permission under which Lord Elgin acted, was granted as a private favour to himself, or as a tribute of respect and gratitude to the British nation?— I cannot presume to explain the motives of the Porte, but I think it was influenced by great personal respect to the ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 57 ambassador, as well as gratitude for the successful efforts of our army in Egypt : but I always thought the objects so to be obtained, were to be the property of Lord Elgin. Did you see any particular fermaun granting authority to purchase and pull down a house? — No; I am confident no such permission was in the fermaun I took to Athens, though it contained general permission to excavate near the temples. In what year did you return to Athens? — I was there at different times, and sailed from thence, with the ambassador, at the termination of the embassy, having procured for him, at different visits, most of the inscriptions, and many detached pieces of sculpture. When you finally left Athens, were all the Marbles now in Lord Elgin’s Collection removed or lowered from their original places? — I believe most of them were. Were all the large figures lowered? — They had been, during my absence from Athens. Was one of the Caryatides removed at that time? — I think it was. Do you know whether the removal of that piece of sculpture created any discontent or sensation among the people of Athens? — I had no personal knowledge that it did; no such discontent was ever expressed to me. Do you imagine that the fermaun gave a direct permission to remove figures and pieces of sculpture from the walls of temples, or that that must have been a matter of private arrangement with the local authorities of Athens? — That was the interpretation which the Vaivode of Athens was induced to allow it to bear. In consequence of what was the Vaivode induced to give it this interpretation ? — With respect to the first metope, it was to gratify what he conceived to be the favourable wishes of the Turkish Government towards Lord Elgin, and which induced him rather to extend than contract the precise permissions of the fermaun. Can you form any idea of the value of the presents which you gave to the Vaivode? — I cannot now ; they consisted of brilliant cut glass lustres, fire-arms, and other articles of English manufacture. Can you form any estimate of the expense incurred by Lord Elgin in forming this Collection of Marbles, and bringing them to England? — I have no data on which to form any accurate idea of the expense of procuring them and putting them on board ship ; but it must have been very considerable, both in procuring them, and the great local difficulties he met with in taking them to the Piraeus. Do you know the weekly or monthly expenses incurred on Lord Elgin’s account during your stay at Athens ? — I do not ; but it must have been very considerable, owing to the expense of the salaries and maintenance of his numerous artists, and the continued presents that were given to the Turkish officers at Athens, and the numerous labourers employed in transporting the heavy masses of Marble. Do you know the weekly sums paid in salaries to the artists or the labourers employed by Lord Elgin ? — I do not ; I believe all pecuniary disbursements on his Lordship’s account at Athens were made by Signior Lusieri, his principal artist. Can you conjecture whether, upon the whole, Lord Elgin’s expenses are likely to have exceeded the sum of £. 30,000 ? — I have no means of forming any opinion upon that subject : his Lordship was indefatigable in his researches, not only at Athens and its neighbourhood, but throughout the Morea and Proper Greece, and the shores of Asia Minor, in endeavouring to procure whatever might tend to the improvement of the arts, particularly in sculpture, architecture, and medals, as well as ancient inscriptions, tending to elucidate the progress of the Greek language from the B srpotpvfov mode of writing, through all its changes to the latest periods of Greece : he also procured specimens Rev. Dr P. fft/Tit. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Rev. of the different orders of architecture, such as capitals and bases, &c. from the earliest to Dr. P. Hunt. ^ styles. QUESTIONS sent to the President of the Royal Academy , his Health not permitting him to attend the Committee ; with his Answers thereto. 1 . ARE you well acquainted with the Elgin Collection ? — I am, having drawn the most distinguished of them, the size of the original Marbles. 2. In what class of art do you rank the best of these Marbles? — In the first of dignified art, brought out of nature upon unerring truths, and not on mechanical principles, to form systematic characters and systematic art. 3. Which, among the Marbles, do you consider as the most excellent?— The Theseus, the Uissus, the breast and shoulders of the Neptune, and the horse’s head. 4. In what class do you rank the draped female figures? — In the first class of grandeur. 5 . Do you consider the draped female figures as of high antiquity ? — At the same time of the Theseus ; and the equestrian groups are of the same period. 6 . In what class do you rank the metopes? — In the grand and simple style of composition. 7. Do they appear to you the work of the same artists? — One mind pervades the whole, but not one hand has executed them. 8. In what class do you rank the frieze of the procession? — The equestrian groups in this frieze or procession are without example, in the energies of the horses, the grace and beauty of the youths who sit upon them, and the life which is to be found in all. The whole does not appear to be the efforts of the human hand, but those of some magic power, which brought the marble into life. 9 . Does that frieze appear to you superior or inferior in excellence to the metopes? — The metopes are superior in their finishing, and many of them are more appropriate to the studies of sculpture, than the less polished groups in the frieze ; but the energy of the latter is withou an example in art, excepting the two works by Raphael, in the Vatican, viz. the Expulsion of Heliodorus, and the invading Army of Rome, under King Attila. These two works of art embrace the same soul, as they sprung from the Marbles now under the consideration of the Committee, and which were communicated to Raphael by his agents sent to Athens, and other parts of the Grecian islands. 10. Does it appear, in general, to be the work of the same artists? — In this frieze I perceive one mind and one hand, in all that animated nature of which the groups are composed. 11. Does that frieze appear to be works of the same period with the metopes and the larger statues ? — The same hand which produced this frieze, was capable of producing the metopes and the large figures. 12. As compared with the Apollo Belvidere, the Torso of the Belvidere, and the Laocoon, how do you estimate the Theseus or Hercules, and the River God or Ilissus ? — The Apollo of the Belvidere, the Torso, and the Laocoon, are systematic art; the Theseus and the Ilissus stand supreme in art. 13. Do you consider it of importance to promoting the study and knowledge of the Fine Arts in Great Britain, that this Collection should become public property? — I think them of the highest importance in art that ever presented itself in this country, not only for instruction in professional studies, but also to inform the public mind in what is dignified in art. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 59 14. As connected with the study ©f painting, do you consider that great improvement of our Benjamin West, British artists may be expected from this acquisition? — It is in these Marbles which is seen the source from whence they grew, and that source is now as open as when they were raised into being, because it came from nature, which is eternal ; and as Raphael was benefited by them, so may our British artists. 15. Can you form any estimate of the money value of this Collection; and if so, what is that value, and upon what data do you form your estimate ? — To such w : orks as these, which have appeared but once in the world, I cannot set any pecuniary value, in competition with the mental powers which are to be seen in those Marbles. 16. In what consists the characteristic distinction between the style of the best of the Marbles from the Temple of Minerva, and that of the Laocoon, Apollo Belvidere, and other works of excellence which you have seen? — The same answer as that of No. 12. 17- Does the close imitation of nature, (in your opinion,) which is observable in the statues of the Theseus, Ilissus, and some of the best metopes, take from, or add to their excellence ? — The close imitation of nature visible in these Figures, adds an excellence to them which words are incapable of describing, but sensibility feels, and adds to their excellence. 18. Have you ever drawn from these Marbles; and are you sensible of any improvement from having studied them? — I have drawn from and studied the figures and groups of men and horses, which I found most excellent in those Marbles. Whether in studying them, I have added any celebrity to the productions of my pencil, I leave the Select Committee to determine, on viewing my two Works, subsequent to those studies, viz. Christ in the Temple, and Christ Rejected, which are before the Public. 19. Are not some of the metopes as highly finished as the Theseus or Ilissus? — They are, in many of their bodies, and also in some of the bodies of the Centaurs. 20. Have you seen and examined Mr. Knight’s Collection of Bronzes ; and in what does their character materially differ from the best of Lord Elgin’s Marbles ? — I have seen them, and they are of the first class, as bronzes. They, as most bronzes, are of systematic art ; but there are some in that Collection of pure art ; in particular, I remember a young Apollo. 21. Have you ever seen sculpture that was, in your opinion, so incontestably the work of the greatest artists as the Theseus, Ilissus, and some of the metopes, or so valuable as models for artists, notwithstanding the partial loss of surface and mutilation? — I have never seen any works of sculpture, which prove themselves to be so decidedly the works of the greatest masters, as must be seen in the Figures mentioned ; and also the same powers are visible in the Barbarini Sleeping Faun. 22 — 27. Have you seen, and examined, the Phygalian Marbles at the Museum? — I have, and find groups and figures among them deserving of praise, but greatly deficient in the just proportion of heads, legs, and arms, and the draperies much confused in their folds ; though when taken in the whole, they are an acquisition in art to this country, although inferior to those which are here from the Temple of Minerva. 28, 29. How should you class the Theseus or IliSsus, compared with the Barbarini Faun ? Should you consider either of the above statues, in their present state, as equal or superior in money value to the Barbarini Faun ? — These three figures are in the highest style of sculptured art, and the very able restoration of the feet, and other parts of the Barbarini Faun, renders it more agreeable to the view as a whole, but not more valuable or superior in style of art, or equal to the figures of Theseus, or the Ilissus, in the truth of nature, particularly in the knees, shoulders and backs, where time has most injured them. Respecting the money value of these three figures, I suppose they are nearly on a balance, in their mutilated state ; but in the refinement of what is transcendent in art, as in the Theseus and the Ilissus, I cannot put any nominal value. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE, &c. 30. Can you compare, in money value, Lord Elgin’s Marbles, or any part of them, with the money value of the Phygalian, or the Townley Collection? — I judge of the Elgin Marbles, from their purity and pre-eminence in art over all others I have ever seen, and from their truth and intellectual power ; and I give them the preference to the Phygalian and Townley Collection, most of which is sys- tematic art. If the above Answers to the Questions, with which I have been honoured by the Select Committee of the House of Commons, tend in any way to assist them in their inquiries respecting the merits of the Elgin Marbles, I shall feel myself highly gratified. With the greatest respect, I have the honour to be, The Committee's most obedient humble Servant, BENJAMIN WEST. APPENDIX No. % — LETTER from Lord Elgin to the Right Honourable N. Vansittart ; accompanying his Petition to the House of Commons. SIR, London, 14th February, 1816. In pursuance of the advice you were good enough to give me at our last interview, I have the honour of transmitting to you a copy of the Petition which you last year presented to the House of Commons, in my name, for the disposal of my Collection of Athenian Sculpture, and other objects of Grecian Antiquity, to the Public. l Since that period, the relations between this Country and the Continent have afforded a fresh accession of means to the most distinguished and learned foreigners to bear their testimony of admiration to the real merit of my Marbles; which, I may venture to say, have essentially gained in the public opinion, even on a comparison with the chef-d’oeuvres of ancient art, which, till lately, adorned the Gallery of the Louvre. Within this period also, the fate of that Gallery, and the influence of the dispersion of it, have eminently exemplified, in the face of Europe, the importance of collections of this nature, in a national point of view. I should have been most highly gratified in presenting my Collection (the fruits of many years anxiety and trouble) gratuitously to my Country, could I have done so with justice to my family. Situated, however, as I am, I can only transfer it to the Public for such a consideration as the House of Commons may judge proper to fix. In proceeding to the appreciation of it, it will readily be admitted, under all the peculiarities of the case, that I can be possessed of no standard which could authorize me to name a price. Whereas if (as I have presumed to suggest in my Petition) a Committee of the House of Commons would enter upon the examina- tion of the most competent evidence which can be adduced, they would, upon that evidence, be able to determine the intrinsic value to the Country of what I offer; and would, I have no doubt, arbitrate satisfactorily as well as fairly, between the Public and me. It is therefore not my wish to name any particular price, nor to enter into any statement of my own views, with respect to the value of my Collection. I leave this question entirely in the hands of the Committee of the House of Commons, to whom I shall be happy to afford all the information in my power. _ „ In conclusion, I beg leave to express my hope and expectation, founded on the concurring testimonies of the first Authorities in this and other countries of Europe, that the fullest investigation which can be bestowed on this subject will prove, in the most unexceptionable manner, that I have been so fortunate as to confer a real benefit on my Country; and that the Collection with which I enrich it, will be eminently useful to the progress of the fine Arts, not only in Great Britain, but throughout Europe. The Right Honourable N. Vansittart, I have the honour, &c. &c. fyc.Sfc.fyc. (Signed) ELGIN. No. 3.— MEMORANDUM, as to Lord Elgin’s exclusive Right of Property in the Collection of Marbles. February, 18 } 6. 1 By reference to the Journals of the House of Commons, it does not appear, that, on the occasion of the transfer of Sir William Hamilton’s Collection to the Public, any idea was entertained calling in question his exclusive property in what he offered to Parliament. T , , In point of fact, the Royal Family of Naples took a great interest in Sir William Hamilton s researches, aided him materially ; and, it was understood, contributed considerably to his Collection. It is also known that, subsequently, Sir William Hamilton formed other Collections, and disposed of these to individual collectors. . m . ..it- i t> i .• Q. M. le Comte de Choiseul Gouffier, during his embassy in Turkey, previous to tlie French Revolution, entered upon the same plan which Lord Elgin has prosecuted ; employing a number of artists at his own expense, and making every preparation for moulding, and removing sculpture, &c. from Athens. Ihe Revolutionary Government seized some of the acquisitions which he had sent to France; but Buonaparte, in the short peace, allowed a corvette to bripg away, on M. de Choiseul’s account, what still remained o his property at Athens. And when, in 1803, this vessel was captured by a frigate in Lord Nelson s squadron, liis Lordship, on M. de Choiseul’s splipitatioD, considered the cargo as private property, and directed it to be preserved for him accordingly. 62 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE 3. Sir Robert Ainslie, Lord Elgin’s predecessor in Turke}', made considerable Collections there, his property in which was nbver disputed. 4. The greater part of Lord Elgin’s Collection was obtained during his embassy. But from the termination of it in January 1803 till the present time, his operations have continued uninterruptedly — (excepting only during the interval of war with Turkey.) Accordingly, a very valuable addition of statuary, &c. (acquired within that period) was joined to the Collection in 1812. 5. A public despatch from Lord Elgin, dated January 13th, 1803, conveying a request on the subject of his salary, contains the following passage: “The private expense I have incurred to the extent of many (e thousand pounds, in improving the advantages before me, towards procuring a knowledge of the Fine Arts (( ln Greece, and rescuing some of their remains from ruin ; and the loss of a valuable vessel of mine, solely ‘ em ployed in that service, would make any defalcation of the appointments affixed to my rank, a matter of serious inconvenience to me.” 6. On the other hand, Government not only never interfered in any way, in Lord Elgin’s operations in Greece, but let it be distinctly understood, before his leaving England, that they could not authorize any expenditure, on an undertaking attended with so much uncertainty and risk; it being beyond doubt that, had they given instructions, or even any formal encouragement, they would, with the advantages, have been liable also in any loss. 7. In fact, no instance is known of the Public claiming an interest in what foreign Ministers, Governors, aval or Military Commanders, &c. &c. may at any time have acquired by their own means, or received from foreign Sovereigns to whom thej' were accredited. letter from the late Mr. Townley to Mr. Harrison the architect, dated in the year 1803, will prove T Viti c . ear understanding of the Public in general, and of the Dilettanti Society in particular, was, that oid Elgin was carrying on his pursuits at his own private risk, and without any assistance whatever from overnment. A copy of this letter is hereunto annexed, enclosed in one from Mr. Harrison to Lord Elgin. No. 4. — MEMORANDUM as to the Delay in transferring Lord Elgin’s Collection to the Public. February, 1816. As it may appear to require some explanation, why this Collection is only now transferred to the Public, alter a considerable part of it has been so many years in the country; Lord Elgin begs leave to state : lhat on being arrested in France, and becoming apprehensive that his detention might be much pro- tracted, he directed the Collection to be made over to Government unconditionally. But his family (with whom alone he was then permitted to correspond) from being wholly unacquainted with the object, delayed complying with this direction till the year 1806, when he reached England. ' ^ Within ten days after his arrival, while none of the packages were yet opened, though some were partially broken ; a gentleman of the very greatest weight in this country on all matters of taste and ancient art, pubhely declared in Lord Elgin s presence, and supported his opinion by allusions to classical authority : „ ,, * ,at J hltllas dld not , work 111 marble: that the sculptures which decorated the pediments of the „ ^ arthenon were executed, at soonest, in the time of Hadrian ; and could not rank otherwise than as The respectable quarter whence this opinion originated, imposed upon Lord Elgin the indispensable obligation of laying his Collection open to public inspection, before he could feel justified in bringing it forward as an object of nationa importance. Some time, however, after he had so exposed it to vie#, a volume pubhshed in 1809, by the Dilettanti Society of London, denominated “Specimens of Ancient Sculpture selected from different Collections in Great Britain,” not only did not advert to any of Lord Elgin s statues, or include any of them m its selection of specimens, but contained the following very striking passage: Of Phidias s style of composition, the /riffles and metopes of the temple of Minerva at , B, h t " 8 ;h Ub lshed by i Mr ' S u Uart ’ an , d Sln , ce bro “S ht t0 England, may afford us competent information. ‘ nroLhl b Se are mere ly architectural sculptures, executed from his designs, and under his directions, ■ E r t by ",° lkn i™ scarcely ranked among artists, and meant to be seen at the heighth of more than , dell T I® tl ! ey ( . Can but i ‘ ttle * , g ht “P™ the m °re important details of his art. From the’ ‘ offhe shl d ! m ? d L e - ‘f ' ef “ i’ e fneses ’ they - apP T t0 have , been '"'tended to produce an effect like that , ' “ e simplest kind of mono-chromatic paintings when seen from their proper point of sight, which effect must have been extremely light and elegant. The relief in the metopes is much higher® so as to exhibit Ire s fi o S differir, y , C h °“Pl ele ’ and tbe dela,ls are , m0,e accurately and more elaborately made out ; but they are so different in their degrees of merit, as to be evidently ’the works of many different persons some of whom wcnild not have been entitled to the rank of artists in a much less cultivated and fastidious a«e ” Ie°e «™„ W »l n Mr - Perc ™ lin 18 P™P°- d to purchase this Collection not £ rice upon a previous examination into its mentis anrl volno k.-.i k.. Jr . „ » sum ior it. T P r ‘ ca “P 011 a previous examination into its merits and value, but by offering at once a specific nl r f.- E f g ? decbned proposal as one that, under the above impressions, would be in the highest degree 38 ^ 35 7 h ° lly inEde r ,e l ia compensation of the ontlafoccasS exceUenc^of this ^ u 1 ntn re ^ nd iit * ” r l fer ! nce t0 ( u hat h . as r in u e been establ ished beyond all doubt) the xcellence of this sculpture, and its authenticity as the work of the ablest artists of the age of Pericles. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 63 No. 5. — Copy of a LETTER addressed by Lord Elgin to the Right Honourable Charles Long, in 1811; — with a Postscript added February 1816. SIRj 6, Park Lane, May 6th, 1811. In requesting you to be so obliging as to offer to Parliament, in my name, a proposal for constituting my Athenian Collection national property, I feel desirous of putting you as fully as possible in possession of my ideas connected with this transfer. The Memorandum recently published, on the subject of iny pursuits in Greece (of which I did myself the honour of sending you a copy), and the inspection of my Museum, will sufficiently explain that my under- taking could have had no other object than that of endeavouring (though it never before had been found practicable) to secure, as far as it could yet be traced, a full and accurate knowledge of the School of Phidias, while he had the direction of the works of architecture and sculpture during the most brilliant period of the history of Athens. That in the hopes, but before the existence of any favourable circumstances to which alone, however, I could look forward for a probability of success', I engaged, at my own risk, such persons as the artists in Eng- land instructed me were necessary for that object. And that, by being thus prepared, I was enabled to complete the plan in all its details, and to an extent far beyond what could have been foreseen. The article (Beaux-Arts) in the Moniteur of the 20th ultimo (which, giving an account of a translation now making in Paris of Stuart’s Athens, calls the ornaments belonging to the Parthenon, the only undoubted works of Phidias in existence,) will, on the other hand, show in what estimation the Collection I have brought to England is held in France; and afford a ground of judging, far less exceptionably than on any assurances from me, whether, during my detention of three years there, it must not have been constantly in my option to have made the most advantageous terms for ceding them to the French Government. I state this, in proof that pecuniary emolument was not in my contemplation ; and that it has ever been my steady purpose to render these acquisitions conducive to the advantage of my Country. In this view, as soon as they could be at all arranged, 1 afforded every facility and encouragement for the inspection of them, in order that the Public might form their opinion without bias or restraint; and I accordingly have the satisfaction of receiving continually, from every artist without exception, from men of taste and men of literature, the most enthusiastic testimonies of the admiration which they feel in the contemplation of my Drawings, my Casts, Marbles, Inscriptions, and lesser Sculptures, representing various interesting scenes in private life. They trace in these, hitherto unknown works, the same superiority of intellect and genius, which characterizes all other productions of the best times of Greece ; and they look to the establishment of such a school as this assemblage would furnish for the study of art and the formation of taste, as the means of giving to this Country those rational advantages, the importance of which has been of late so much brought into evidence, by the many valuable Collections of ancient art so studiously concentrated in Paris. Such impressions, I have the strongest reason for believing, would have been found to be the sentiments of the persons of the description I allude to, who might have been called upon to report on the value of this Collection as a national acquisition. And while they would have awarded a fair reimbursement of my expenses, which the state of my family and my affairs would not justify me in foregoing ; they would at the same time have stamped the transaction as wholly differing from a pecuniary bargain, and would have pro- nounced on the service I had been the means of conferring on the country, in a way to have presented a powerful recommendation and claim in my favour, for some mark of Royal approbation. Such were my sentiments on the subject in question, when I was lately called to London, at the desire of the Speaker, for the purpose of concerting the mode of transferring this Collection to the Public. And I found the Speaker decidedly of opinion, that a statement of my expenses, with the interest upon them, should form the basis of the transaction ; and that, beyond this, Parliament would take under consideration, as a separate subject of remuneration, the merit attending the procuring and offering these objects to the Public. But a delay arose most unexpectedly, from an idea being entertained, that, as I, at the time, held a diplomatic appointment, I had not the full and uncontrolled right over my acquisitions : an idea, which would have given to Government a claim upon any acquisition, which not only ministers but governors abroad, naval and military commanders, and every person employed, &c. &c. might have opportunities of obtaining at their own risk and outlay and trouble, or be permitted to receive from Foreign Sovereigns. Independently, however, of plain reason and universal practice ; and of the instances of Sir William Hamilton, who sold part of his Collections to Parliament, and part to individuals and foreigners; and of my predecessor Sir Robert Ainslie, whose entire property in his valuable Collections has never been interfered with ; it is now known, that I engaged in the enterprise under review, only because the British Government would not have been authorized to undertake any thing of so doubtful an issue. When this difficulty appeared to be removed, and the Speaker still adhered to the opinion he had before recommended as to the mode of proceeding, I could no longer hesitate in acquiescing in his advice ; and I herewith transmit to you accordingly as ample a view of my outlay as the materials still in my possession enable me to furnish, of a transaction so peculiar in itself, and differing entirely from the circumstances attending every other Collection. Here the objects were not purchased, or got for fixed prices. They were not selected by the taste of an individual; nor were they, generally speaking, the results of accidental dis- covery from excavation. But, in the face of difficulties till then found insurmountable, a plan was under- APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE taken for securing one great series, the success of which depended upon unwearied patience, abundance of means, and the most prompt and uncalculating decision in the use of them. YV ith all this, it must be recol- lected, the expenses are those of a person acting under no responsibility, with all the keenness and impe- tuosity which may be supposed to have animated the attempt to rescue inestimable treasures from ob lvion and destruction. 1st. The Drawings and Casts. 2nd. The Sculptures and Inscriptions now in England. 1st. The Drawings and Casts. In appreciating the expenses of this article, which constituted the whole of the original plan, it must be borne in mind that the instructions I acted upon were traced by artists in England, who, on a full investiga- tion of the existing works relating to Athens, pointed out in what respects information was further wanting from thence. Indeed, a few years before, M. de Choiseu! Goqffier had taken to Turkey nearly the like establishment of draughtsmen, on a similar attempt, which, however, failed. Besides, the obstacles, the interruptions and discouragements, created by the caprice and prejudices of the Turks, even under the most favourable circumstances, are such that any undertaking in that country, when connected with their establish ments, houses, &c. and requiring time, is placed in no parallel whatever with similar works carried on else- where. In fact, my artists were several months at Athens without being able to enter the Acropolis, unless on paying fees nearly amounting to 5l. sterling each visit; nor, till long after, were they permitted to erect scaffoldings. The expense of the six artists I had, of whom four were without doubt the most eminent of their day in Italy, necessarily included their salary, board, accommodations, and attendance, and literally all their sup- plies, as well as the cost of all the materials they used ; their scaffoldings, packing-cases, Sac. & c. These charges may be supposed to have amounted, upon an average, as near as can be calculated, to 400/. for each, per annum. (The professional men in England, who had been applied to for this expedition, declined leaving their occupations in London, under towards 700/. per annum for salary alone, besides having all their expenses paid, and retaining a part of their works.) The six artists remained together on this undertaking three years and a half ; which, at 400/. each per annum, would amount to £ 8,400 N. B. — One continued some time longer in finishing the picturesque tour in Greece. One came to England, where he remained two years, for the purpose of engraving his own drawings, an intention which my detention in France defeated, incurring a further expense of .......... 800 The conveyance of these artists from Rome to Constantinople, thence to Athens, and their journies in general, may have been about - - 1,500 ~£. 10,700 This sum may be considered as forming the cost of the Casts, Drawings, and Measurements ; though the same persons, and in many respects the same expenses, were equally necessary, and contributed towards the other parts of the Collection. | I I n twi v u 2 . — The Sculptures and Inscriptions , and Vases, now in England. In alluding to some of the articles which more exclusively compose the cost attending the Marbles and Inscriptions, it is difficult, even in the most confidential communications, to enter into explanations. The case is, that the ministers of the Porte were prevailed upon, after much trouble and patient solicitation, to grant to me an authority to excavate and remove what I might discover, as well as to draw and model. It was an authority differing from those granted to other English gentlemen, then travelling in Turkey, only in the degree which the extent of the means I employed made necessary. But the plain import of such a permission in Turkey, is nothing more, than that it affords an introduction, by means of which secret nego- tiations may be carried on with such persons in office or in power, as have some superintendence, or immediate concern, with the objects in question. Upon such persons, it is equally undeniable, that no influence can possibly be efficient, from a Christian, excepting only weight of gold; and the amount of this is, in all cases, pioportioned to the rank of the parties, the sacrifice to be made, and the eagerness shown for the acquisition. At the period under review 1 held the dignity of ambassador : I had to transact with the highest personages in the state. The objects I requested were — leave to occupy situations about the ruins, commanding the interior of Turkish houses: to remove blocks forming parts of their fortifications; aud, inscriptions, &c. occasionally built up in their mosques. And my perseverance under constant difficulties and disappoint- ments, sufficiently showed to them the importance attached to my enterprise. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 65 The above Expenses, and the numbers of Workmen employed, maybe calculated at It may easily be conceived what extent of manual labour was required in a country, in which the habits are those of the most obstinate listlessness and indolence: which is wholly unprovided with wheel-carriages, or mechanical instruments : when great masses of ruins were to be removed in search of hidden pieces of Sculpture; large blocks of Marble to be lowered from great heights ; and so many immense weights convey- ed to a distance of above four miles, along a track which had barely the appearance of a road. The removal of the Cases from Athens to England ; for, though I received much very friendly assistance"} in this respect, from officers commanding King’s ships, yet I employed two vessels of my own on that ser-f vice, and several country ships : - I The Expenses at Malta, where the cases were generally placed in deposit ' Commission and Agency ; which in all instances, especially when out of the ordinary line of business, are very considerable in Turkey - Interest on Money borrowed, which is, legally, at 12 per cent, and often much more... A great variety of minor Expenses, inseparable from so vast an undertaking - — This outlay was at a time when not more than 12 or 13 piastres could be got in exchange for the pound sterling. The charges thus stated for the Artists, the obtaining and removing the Collection, are There was, besides the loss of my vessel (the Mentor), an English copper-bottomed yacht, which was cast away off Cerigo, with no other cargo on board than some of the sculptures. The price and charges on this vessel (which, from the nature of her voyage, could not be insured in Turkey) and the operations, which con- tinued three years, in recovering the Marbles, cannot be stated under £. 5, 000 - This expenditure having been incurred between the years 1799 and 1803, leaves a claim of interest from that time * There has been since, the charge of landing this immense number of heavy Cases in various ports of England, transferring them to London, and placing them at the Duke of Richmond’s, in Privy Gardens; removing them afterwards three times ; erecting convenient and sufficient buildings where to place the Marbles; arranging the casts; attendance on the Collection, &c. &c. The expense of this part of the transaction must have been fully <£.6,000 public inspection in my house in Park-Lane, and in Burlington-House, from the year 1807 to 1812; consist- ing of all the large statues (excepting the Sternum of the colossal figure of Neptune, the group of two horses’ heads, and the forehead of Minerva); eleven of the metopes; a large proportion, but not the best preserved groups of the frieze; various minor pieces of sculpture; all the moulds and casts; some specimens of architecture; all the drawings ; and original inscriptions. Towards the end of 1812, about eighty additional cases of architecture and sculpture reached England ; having been collected subsequently to my departure from Turkey, and now forming part of my Collection in Burlington-House. To these are now added a Collection of Medals. 1 beg leave generally to observe, that though I had not regulated my expenses or my outlay, under any expectation of their being ever inquired into, still I brought with me from Athens an accurate and detailed journal of the daily expenditure there, down to my departure in 1803, made out by a gentleman of the strictest honour and regularity, who had the direction of all my operations, and in whom I have placed the utmost confidence. This has been lost, probably when, on my arrest as prisoner of war in France, I was under the necessity of burning my papers. But I have recently received the continuation of that journal from January 1803 to the end of 1814. together with the account current of my agent, an eminent merchant, at Malta, from October 1807 to May 18 LI ; which documents enable me to specify the leading articles of outlay incurred since my leaving Turkey. The Journal itself amounts to ------ Ps. 112,170 Besides, the Expenses at Malta before October 1807, and after May 1811. Interest of Money. Presents sent from England, &c. &c. But the principal importance of these vouchers is, to show the real nature of the expenses, to which, in point of fact, this enterprise subjected me; a subject, of which nothing but an acquaintance with the habits and practices in Turkey, and the peculiar difficulties, necessities, and charges attending this undertaking, «£. 15 , 000 . ,£. 2 , 500 . £■ £• £. £. 28 , 200 . £. 5,000. To the Right Hon. Charles Long, Sfc. Sfc- Sfc,. Sir, I have the honour to be, &c. & c. &c. (Signed) ELGIN. London, February 2 9th, 1816. The above Statement refers altogether to the great body of the Collection, such as it had been laid open to which at 16 Piastres, the average rate of Exchange, is equal to A M. Lusieri’s salary from 1803 to 1816 His personal loss, during his flight from Athens - : - And that part of the Account Current of the Agent at Malta, not included in .<£.7,010 12 6 2,800 — — 200 M. Lusieri’s Journal . . 2,400 £. 12,410 12 6 K 66 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE could possibly afford any notion. These documents show, that, even when I employed only one, instead of six artists, and my endeavours and their results were reduced out of all proportion with my former efforts ; yet that during so much of this period as M. Lusieri was at Athens, 1. The cost of manual labour, was - Ps.S7,464 2. . _D°_ -of materials, &c. &c - 23,805 3. Presents, found necessary for the local authorities, in Athens alone 21,902 That interest on money borrowed there, was as high as 15 and 20 per cent. And the agency at Malta, after commission and brokerage on drafts being charged, was (6,000 on 33,663) equal to 17| per cent. I beg once more to repeat, that I do not offer this view of my expenses as a criterion of the intrinsic value of my Collection. I ever have been persuaded that, injustice to the Public, that should be calculated on other grounds. But it is, I trust, sufficient to prove, that in amassing these remains of antiquity for the benefit of my Country, and in rescuing them from the imminent and unavoidable destruction with which they were threatened, had they been left many years longer the prey of mischievous Turks, who mutilated them for wanton amusement, or for the purpose of selling them piecemeal to occasional travellers; I have been actuated by no motives of private emolument; nor deterred from doing what I felt to be a substantial good, by considerations of personal risk, or the fear of calumnious misrepresentations. ELGIN. To Henry Bankes, Esq. Chamnan of the Committee, fyc. S)C. tyc. No. 6. — LETTER from Lord Elgin to Henry Bankes, Esq. Sir, London, 13th March, 1816. As I have been given to understand that some Members of the Committee have expressed a wish fox- more detailed information with respect to my expenses in Turkey, connected with my Collection of Athenian Sculpture, &c. I have thought it might be convenient for them to be in possession of the following considera- tions, arising out of the Italian Journal which I left with the Committee the second time I had the honour of attending them ; 1 hope that they will assist the Committee in forming an accurate notion of the nature of the exertions and expenses which necessarily attended the prosecution of an undertaking, which, 1 believe, knows no parallel; and at the same time, to appreciate the extent of what must have been expended, prior to the first date occurring in that document. But, before I enter upon this comparison, I beg to advert to tbe expenses incurred in England since the Marbles began to arrive, fourteen years ago, and the loss of my ship the Mentor; two items in my expenditure, not referred to in the journal. 1. The expense of landing and warehousing the cases in England ; collecting them first at the Duchess of Portland’s, in Privy Gardens ; then transporting them to the Duke of Richmond’s ; afterwards to my house in Park-Lane : and finally to Burlington House (in each of which two last places I had to erect suitable buildings lor the purpose of arranging and exhibiting the Statues and Bas-reliefs;) the figure-maker’s labour in putting together the moulds made at Athens, a work of great nicety, and which took up nearly a whole year; at- tendance for the protection of the Collection, during ten years ; and various incidental charges. All these sources of expense cannot, in my opinion, be calculated at a less sum than srtt thousand, pounds. 2. The loss of the Mentor, and the expense of weighing up her cargo, consisting of large cases of Marble, being parts of the frieze and metopes, sunk in ten fathoms water (an operation which was not completed till the third year after the shipwreck), forms my second item. Before the employment of the divers, who were ultimately successful, three unavailing attempts had been made to weigh up the ship bodily. All the cases were finally recovered, and none of the contents in any way damaged. They were forwarded successively by thd consul at Cerigo, some of them to Smyrna, and some to Malta, and from thence to England. This ope- xation, with the purchase of the Mentor, and her necessary expense, I have valued at five thousand pounds. v ^e re gular accounts sent home by M. Lusieri in 1815, comprise, first, the manual labour he employed, amounting to Ps.37 464 2. The materials he purchased for carrying on his operations 23 805 S. Presents to the Authorities at Athens 21,902 4. Lusieri’s board 24 000 5. Interest on money borrowed by him, &c VoOO During these expenses, which were incurred between the commencement of 1803 and the end of 1814, excepting the interval of war, M. Lusieri was alone at Athens, and procured what has been added to the Collection since 1811: they form a total of 112,000 piastres, equal, at 16 p 5 to the pound sterling, to £ 7 000 1 q which are added the salary to the present period ... 2 800 His losses, when driven by the war from Athens . ^200 And the sum of «. 2 400 In all £. 12,400 being what Messrs Hayes of Malta pass in account, beyond what went through Lusieri’s hands. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. I value, therefore, the three articles, — Expenses in England, the loss of the Mentor, and the works since the beginning of 1803, — at ,£.6,000 5,000 12,000 67 -£•25,000 4. Now with respect to the works prior to 1803, I have not the same data to proceed upon. The account furnished me by M. Lusieri, on my leaving Athens, has been mislaid, or destroyed in France. 1 must there- fore arrive at an approximation by analogy. The mass of work done, and the difficulties surmounted prior to 1S03, may be described thus : — The acquisition of all the large statues of the pediments; of eleven out of the fourteen metopes; of nearly forty out of fifty-six or fifty-eight pieces of the frieze ; the colossal statue of Bacchus ; the bas-reliefs of the Temple of Victory ; many smaller fragments of sculpture; the greatest and most interesting part of the inscriptions; many of the architectural specimens, particularly those of the Ionic order; all the casts ; all the drawings ; all the medals; the procuring the artists from Rome; their conveyance by way of Messina, Malta, Girgenti, to Constantinople, and thence to Athens ; their salaries, board, and absolutely every expense they incurred from the winter of 1799 to the middle of 180S ; their conveyance home; the maintenance of one of them (Ittar) one year longer at Malta in finishing his sketches; and of another (the Calmonk) for two years longer in England, for the purpose of his drawings; the' purchase and construction of the materials required for the operations of the artists; the original breaking ground of the whole transaction, both in Constanti- nople and in Greece ; the purchase of houses, and removal of large masses of ruins for the recovery of buried sculpture ; the manual labour at all times of a great number of men, and very frequently of hundreds at a time, in transporting great weights from Athens to the sea ; occasional presents to sailors engaged to assist on the embarkation ; the conveyance of a part of the Collection to Alexandria or to Malta, in private vessels hired for the purpose; the exorbitant demands in these countries for interest, agency, and commission; and the whole performed under the disadvantage of a very inferior rate of exchange, from eleven to thirteen piastres only being then procured for the pound sterling ; whereas the calculation subsequent to 1803 is founded upon the pound sterling producing sixteen piastres. Under the foregoing considerations, 1 am confident thatl should not materially err, if I were to state my expenses for the Collection, prior to 1803, at three times the amount of those incurred subsequent to that date. This calculation (even without taking into account the difference of 25 per cent on the exchange in favour of the latter period) would raise the expenditure, prior to 1803, to ^.36,000; whereas in my letter to 1 Mr. C. Long, I have rated it, on other grounds, only at £.28,000*. To which, and to the £.5,000 on the i loss of the Mentor, I have added fourteen years’ interest. To recapitulate the above, I calculate, j^.6,000 Expenses in England. 5,000 Loss of the Mentor, and recovery of its cargo. 12.000 Expenses, as per Account, since January 1803. 28.000 Ditto, prior to that period. 23,240 Interest on jg.33,000. But, I beg leave once more to repeat, that T do not, and never have recommended my expenses as a criterion of the value of my Collection to the Public. I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, Your obedient humble Servant, Henry Bankes, Esq. ELGIN. Chairman of the Committee , 4fC. fyc. fy c. No. 7. — Copy of a LETTER from Charles Townley, Esq. to J. Harrison, Esq. on the Subject of Lord Elgin’s Marbles. Dear Sir, London, 8th February, 1803. I feel myself exceedingly obliged to you, and most highly gratified, by your kind com- munication to me of Lord Elgin’s most laudable exertions towards collecting either original Marbles, or Drawings or Casts, of the most valiujble monuments of sculpture or architecture in Greece. I have lost no opportunity of informing persons of taste and judgment in the Fine Arts, of the interesting operations which Lord Elgin is now so eagerly carrying on. Mis Lordship’s zeal is most highly approved and admired, and every hope and wish is entertained for his final success. But our Government is univer- sally blamed for not contributing their political influence, as well as pecuniary aid, towards these operations, jfor the advancement of the Fine Arts in this country. \ ou appear to decline Lord Elgin’s invitation to supply Signor Lusieri with more documents and * Bting the expense of the Artists, which comprises the whole of the original undertaking - ••• Ps. 139,000 That of obtaining and removing the Marbles Ps. 224,900 APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE information, relative to his further pursuits and researches in Greece. But it is in contemplation with a fen Members of the Dilettanti Society, to whom I have communicated Lord Elgin’s letter, to make a handsome remittance to Signor Lusieri, and to engage him to make some researches, and execute some plans and drawings of monuments, which shall be indicated to him. , The meeting of the Society will be on Sunday next. Should any determinations be entered into, worthy of being communicated to you, you shall know them : at the same time let me entreat you to put down on paper any hints you can suggest, relative to objects in Greece, that are particularly requisite to e investigated. . . , . . My health is still in a very weak state. I will conclude this sheet by repeating my thanks for y° ur , f communication, and expressing my hopes of receiving from you your thoughts upon the chief objects in Greece, that yet remain, and ought to be investigated and drawn by Lusieri. I remain, dear Sir, Your most faithful and obedient Servant, C. TOWNLEY. No. 8 . — Translation of a LETTER from the Cavalier Canova to the Earl of Elgin. My Lord, London, 10 th Nov . 1815. Permit me to express the sense of the great gratification which I have received from having seen in London the valuable antique Marbles, which you have brought hither from Greece. I think that 1 can never see them often enough : and although my stay in this great capital must be extremely short, I dedicate every moment that I can spare to the contemplation of these celebrated remains of ancient art. t admire in them the truth of nature united to the choice of the finest forms. Every thing here breathes life, with a veracity, with an exquisite knowledge of art, but without the least ostentation or parade of it, which is concealed by consummate and masterly skill. The naked is perfect flesh, and most beautiful in its kind. — I think myself happy in having been able to see with my own eyes these distinguished works; and I should feel perfectly satisfied if I had come to London only to view them. Upon which account, the admirers of art, and the artists, will owe to your Lordship a lasting debt of gratitude, for having brought amongst us these noble and magnificent pieces of sculpture; and for my own part I beg leave to return you my own most cordial acknowledgments ; and I have the honour to be, &c. 8tc. & c. CANOVA. No. p. - -Extract of a DESPATCH from his Excellency the Earl of Elgin to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Constantinople. January 1 3th, 1803. “ I do not demand any allowances corresponding with those of the late extraordinary embassies from Russia, although the honours and public disbursements of mine have been equally extraordinary ; nor can I have a wish to make a charge of the many unusual expenses to which I have been subjected. Still, I confess that the private expense which I have incurred to the extent of many thousand pounds, in improving the advantages before me, towards procuring a knowledge of the arts of Greece, and rescuing some of their remains from ruin ; and the loss of a valuable vessel of mine solely employed in that service, would make any defalcation of the appointments affixed to my rank a matter of serious inconvenience to me.” No. 10 . — TRANSLATION from the Italian of a Fermaiin , or Official Letter from The Camacan Pasha , (who filled the Office of Grand Vizier at The Porte , (during that Ministers absence in Egypt,) addressed to The Cadi , or Chief Judge, and to The Vaivode, or Governor of Athens, in 1801. After the usual introductory compliments, and the salutation of Peace , — “ It is hereby signified to you, that our sincere Friend, his Excellency Lord Elgin, Ambassador Extraordinary from the Court of England to the Porte of Happiness, hath represented to us, that it is well known that the greater part of the Frank (i. e. Christian) Courts are anxious to read and investigate the books, pictures, or figures, and other works of science of the ancient Greek philosophers: and that, in particular, the ministers, or officers of state, philosophers, primates, and other individuals of England, have a remarkable taste for the drawings, or figures, or sculptures, remaining ever since the time of the said Greeks, and which are to be seen on the shores of the Archipelago, and in other parts; and have, in consequence, from time to time, sent men to explore and examine the ancient edifices, and drawings or figures. And that some accomplished Dilletanti of the Court of England, being desirous to see the ancient buildings and the curious figures in the City of ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &e. 69 Athens, and the'old walls remaining since the time of the Grecians, which now subsist in the interior part of the said place; his Excellency the said Ambassador hath therefore engaged five English painters, now- dwelling at Athens, to examine and view, and also to copy the figures remaining there, antique: Ana ne hath also at this time expressly besought us, that an Official Letter may be written from hence, ordering that as long as the said painters shall be employed in going in and out of the said citadel ot Athens, wnrcn is the place of their occupations; and in fixing scaffolding round the ancient Temple of the Idols mere; and in moulding the ornamental sculpture and visible figures thereon, in plaster or gypsum; and in measuring the remains of other old ruined buildings there; and in excavating, when they find it necessary, the foundations, in order to discover inscriptions which may have been covered in the rubbish; ““ no interruption may be given them, nor any obstacle thrown in their way by the Disdar (or commandant ot tne citadel), or any other person: that no one may meddle with the scaffolding or implements they may require in their works ; and that when they, wish to take away any pieces of stone with, old inscriptions or figures thereon, that no opposition he made thereto. v ... “ We therefore have written this Letter to you, and expedited it by Mr. Philip Hunt, an English gentleman, Secretary of the aforesaid Ambassador, in order that, as soon as you shall have understood its meaning, namely, that it is the explicit desire and engagement of this Sublime Court, endowed with all eminent qualities, to favour such requests as the above mentioned, in conformity with what is due to tne friendship, sincerity, alliance, and good will subsisting ah antique between the Sublime and ever durable Ottoman Court and that of England, and which is on the side ot both those Courts manifestly increasing ; particularly as there is no harm in the said figures and edifices being thus viewed, contemplated, and designed. Therefore, after having fulfilled the duties of hospitality, and given a proper reception to the aforesaid Artists, in compliance with the urgent request of the said Ambassador to that effect, and because it is incumbent on us to provide that they meet no opposition in walking, viewing, or contemplating tne figures and edifices they may wish to design or copy ; or in any of their works of fixing scaffolding, or using their various implements ; It is our desire that, on the arrival of this Letter, you use your diligence to act conformably to the instances of the said Ambassador, as long as the said five Artists, dwelling at Athens, shall be employed in going in and out of the said citadel of Athens, which is the place of their occupations; or in fixing scaffolding around the ancient Temple of the Idols, or in modelling with chalk or gypsum the said ornaments and visible figures thereon ; or in measuring the fragments and vestiges of other ruined edifices ; or in excavating, when they find it necessary, the foundations, in search of inscriptions among the rubbish; that they he not molested by the said Disdar (or commandant of the citadel), nor by any other persons, nor even by you (to whom this letter is addressed) ; and that no one meddle with their scaffolding or implements, nor hinder them from taking away any pieces of stone with inscriptions or figures. In the above- mentioned manner, see that ye demean and comport yourselves. (Signed with a signet.) “ SEGED ABDULLAH KA1MACAN. N. B. The words in Italian rendered in two places “ any pieces of stone,” are “ qualche pezzi di pietra.” APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE No. 11. CATALOGUE THE ELGIN MARBLES, VASES, CASTS, AND DRAWINGS, PREPARED FROM THE MS. OF MONSIEUR VISCONTI. The Pediments of the Parthenon. The Metopes. The Frize (East end.) (North side.) (West end.) (South side.) (Not ascertained.) Frize of the Temple of Victory.' Doric Architecture. Ionic Architecture, Monuments relating to Bacchus. Detached Heads. Detached pieces of Sculpture. Urns — Marble, Bronze, and Earthen. Altars. Cippi or Sepulchral Pillars. Casts. Greek Inscriptions. Drawings, Statues and Fragments from the Western Pediment. Part of the Chest and Shoulders of the colossal figure in the centre (supposed to be Neptune.) Fragment of the colossal figure of Minerva. Fragment of a Head (supposed to belong to the preceding.) Fragment of a statue of Victory. Statue of a river-god, called Uissus, Fragments of Statues from the Pediments, the names or places of which are not positively ascertained. Female figure, sitting (supposed to belong to group marked No. 6.) Fragment of a Female figure (resembling Victory, No. 10.) Fragment ol a Female figure, seated (sup- posed to have been Latona, holding Apollo and Diana in her arms.) Fragment (supposed to have belonged to a grqup of Female figures.) Fragment ot the Neck and Arms rising out ol the Sea, called Hyperion, or the Rising Sun. Torso of a Male figure, with drapery thrown over one shoulder, The Metopes. A Centaur with a long beard; raises himself for the purpose of striking with a club a Lapitha, who attacks him, A Lapitha has overpowered a Centaur, whose hands are tied behind his back. A Centaur, who has thrown down a Lapitha, A Centaur is carrying off a Woman, ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 71 5. A Centaur has thrown down a Lapitha, who I is still defending himself, and holding up | a shield. 6. A Lapitha is struggling with a Centaur, | whom he holds by the hair and ear. 7. A Centaur is nearly overcoming a Lapitha. 8. A Lapitha seems to be successful against a Centaur. J 9. A Centaur is throwing down a Lapitha, j whom he holds by the hair. 10. A- Lapitha upon the croup of a Centaur, seizes his neck, and endeavours to throw him down. 11. A Centaur successful against a Lapitha: 12. A Lapitha, with covered legs, appears to be successful against a Centaur, who is retir- ing, and holds a lion’s skin over his left arm. 13. Combat between a Centaur and Lapitha * quite naked. 14. A Centaur is rearing up; the figure of the Lapitha is detached from the marble, but the Torso is adjoining. C The Frize, representing the Procession for celebrating the Panathencean Festival. The East End. 1 . The Slab which formed the south-east angle ; representing a Bull on the south, and a Magistrate or Director of the procession i on the east side. 2. Fragments of four Male figures, moving to their right. 3. Six Female figures, moving to their right, and holding vases in their hands. 4, 5. Six Female figures, preceded by two Direc- tors. 6, 7- Eight figures: the four which are standing supposed to be four Directors ; the others are called Castor and Pollux, Ceres and Triptolemus. 8. Slab, on which are five figures : called respectively, beginning from the left, Victory, Minerva, Jupiter, two Cane- phora. 9. Slab, on which are five figures : i. e. a Priest- ess, or the Arehontissa; a Boy receiving the peplum from the Archon, or one of the Directors ; Hygaaia, and Esculapius. 10. Two Directors. 11. Five figures, corresponding with those marked No. 6 and 7. 12. Five Females ; carrying respectively, a candelabrum, vases, and patera. D From the North Side of the Prize. ' 1. Two Scaphephori moving towards the left. 2. A Female in a car drawn, by three horses, with one of the Directors. 3. A Female in a car with two horses, and one of the Directors. 4. A Female in a similar car; with two Men, one of them in armour. 5. Two Men,. in a car drawn by three horses. . 5 . Fragment of a Car with two Horses ; the point of a ‘sceptre appears above the horses. 6. Eight young Men on horseback, clothed in tunics, which are raised above the khee. 7. . Four Horses and three Riders. 8. Three Horsemen, with tunics and buskins. 9. Three Horsemen in the same costume. 10. Three Horsemen ; one of them is naked, the feet of the others are uncovered. 11. Three Horsemen; one of which is almost effaced. 12. Four Horsemen; two with helmets, the others naked. 13. Four Horsemen with tunics : the last has a large Thessalian hat hung over his shoulders. 14. North-west Angle of the Frize: — It repre- sents three Men and a Boy on the western side, and one of the Directors on the north side. E The Western End. 15. A single piece of the Frize, being a con- tinuation of the foregoing No. 14: two Horsemen, the one nearly naked ; the other has a breastplate : both wear buskins. * F South Side. 1. A Bull, with three Men, one of whom holds back the animal. 2. Two Bulls and two Men. 3. Two Bulls and four Men ; one of the men places a crown on his head, preparatory to the celebration of the sacrifice. 4. Two Bulls and four Men. 5. One Bull and four Men; one of whom holds back the animal. 6. A Car with two Horses and four Figures : among them is a young Man, whose tunic is drawn up above the knee, and who holds a shield : he appears ready to mount. 7. A Car with four Horses: in it is a Warrior standing up, with helmet, shield, and chlamyde : the other figure is seated, and drives the car. 8. A Car with two Horses, moving in the s'ame direction ; two Figures ; of which one, who is getting into the car, holds a large shield. 9. Fragment of another Car, moving in the same direction. 10. Fragment of a similar subject. 11 . Two Horsemen; one, nearly naked, seems to have a Thessalian hat thrown over' his shoulders. 12. Three Horsemen, all clothed in tunics. 13. Two Horsemen, one with buskins. 14. One Horseman, with several Horses. G Detached Parts of the F rize of the Celia of the Parthenon, the exact situa- tions of which are not yet ascertained. A. A Quadriga in slow motion; a Youth in the tunic, with a shield, accompanies it ; another points behind him, with his arm naked. The entry to Animals for sacrifice. Cars. Horsemen. APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE 72 b. Three Horses in quick motion towards the right ; the Riders wear the tunic. c. Three Horses : the Riders are all clothed in tunics. ». Thi ee Horsemen in armour. E. Two Horsemen in tunics; one has his right hand on his horse’s head. f. Two Horsemen in armour : the foremost has an helmet ; the other appears, from the holes which are in the Marble, to have had some ornament of metal fixed on the head. g. Two Horsemen in tunics ; part of three Horses. h. Part of three Horses, and three Riders in cuirasses. i. Fragment of Horsemen and Horses. j. Fragment of four Horses and two Riders. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. K 4. H From the Temple of Victory. 1. Bas-relief, representing a Combat between Greeks and Barbarians. 2. Another, representing the same subject. 3. Another, representing the same subject. 4. Similar Bas-relief, representing a Combat between Greeks and Amazons. L I Fragments of Architecture, from the Parthenon, Propyljea, and other Doric Buildings. 1. A Doric Capital from the Parthenon, in two pieces. 2. One layer of a Doric column, from the same. 3. Fragments of the Frize of the Parthenon. 4. Fragments of the Architrave of Ditto. 5. Doric Capital from the Propylaea. 6. Part of a Doric Entablature, plain. 7. Two Tiles from the roof of the Ambulatory of the Temple of Theseus. 3. 4. 5. 6 . 7. 8 . 9- 10 . 11 . 13 . J From the Temple of Erectheus and adjoining Buildings ; also Specimens of Ionic Architecture. 1. One of the Caryatides which supported a roof, under which the olive-tree sacred to Minerva was supposed to have been preserved. 2. Part of a Column from the Temple of Erectheus, of the Ionic order. 3. Base of Ditto. 4. Capital of Ditto. 5 . Detached part of the rich Frize, from the same Temple. 6. Four fragments of ornamented Ionic Enta- blature. 7. Three large Ditto. 8. One small Ditto. 9. One large Ditto, with inscriptions. 10. Ditto, ditto, Ionic Entablature. 11. Three upper parts of Columns of the Ionic order. 12. Three large pieces of fluted Ionic Shaft. M 6 . 7. 9. 10 . One large piece of fluted Ionic Shaft, short. Two pieces of small Ionic Shaft, fluted and reeded. One Capital of Ionic pilaster. Two Ionic Capitals. Two parts of Ionic Entablature. One large Ionic Capital. Monuments appertaining to the Worship and the Theatre o/ B acchus. A colossal Statue of Bacchus, which was placed over the Theatre. A Sun-dial, from the same. A complete Series of Casts from the Bas- reliefs on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. A Bas-relief with four figures, representing a Bacchanalian Dance. Detached Heads. Portrait, larger than nature, with long beard and deeply cut eyes, a diadem round the hair ; perhaps Sophocles. Portrait, somewhat similar to the preceding one. Fragment of Augustus. Fragment : the style, times of the Republic. A bearded Hercules. Same subject, smaller size. Bacchus crowned with ivy. Female Head. One half of a Head, without any beard, with long hair, in the costume of Alexander, or of the Dioscuri. Fragment of an old Head, larger than nature. Fragment of a Head with a beard; it has a conical cap: perhaps Ulysses or Vulcan. Female Head, smaller than nature : the head- dress of one of the Muses. Female Head,, smaller than nature. Detached Pieces of Sculpture. Small Female figure erect, in the costume of the Muse Polymnia : Found at Thebes. Torso of a Male figure found at Epidauria. Statue; supposed to-be Cupid. A Choragic Bas-relief, on which is represented a Temple of Apollo, with two figures. Bas-relief of a Quadriga, in which is a Female figure; a Victory in air is approaching to crown her. Female Figure, without a head ; small size. Figure of a Telesphore, attendant of Escu- lapius'; without a head. Fragment of a Bas-relief, on which is a young Man, who appears to be on a chariot led by Victory. Fragment of a Boy in alto relievo. Bas-relief, representing a young Wrestler with his Preceptor. Bas-relief, representing Minerva in armour, and a young Athenian. Fragment of a Bas-relief ; a Sacrifice, of which a Hog is the victim. ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S COLLECTION OF MARBLES, &c. 73 IS. Fragment of a Bas-relief; a Sacrifice, of which the victim is a Ram. 14. Two Divinities — Jupiter seated, a Goddess standing up. 15. Two Goddesses taking a young Athenian under their protection. 16‘. Fragment of a Bas-relief, on which are two young Greeks, one holding an instrument of sacrifice, called by the Romans cape- duncula. 17. Small round Altar : four Female figures sculptured on the four sides of it, are dancing, holding each others’ hands ; the first seems to be playing on a lyre. 18. Torso of a Female figure, in drapery. 19. Figure of a Horseman, apparently an ancient imitation of part of the Frize of the Parthenon, in smaller proportions. 20. Figure of a young Divinity, probably Bacchus, taking an Athenian under his protection ; the latter of smaller dimen- sions. 20 b. Minerva, standing up in a kind of small temple. 21. Figure of Hygeia : she is offering her cup to the serpent, which is her symbol ; she is holding, in her left hand, a kind of fan in the form of leaves of ivy; her head is covered with the high dress called tutulus. 22. Bas-relief, on which are represented five Figures : in the midst is a Goddess on a kind of throne, the other four are smaller; three of them are imploring the Goddess on behalf of their children, whom they carry in their arms; the fourth is bring- ing oblations and votive offerings. This bas-relief is from Cape Sigeum, near the plain of Troy. 23. Fragments similar to Nos. 12 and 13. There are five figures, of which two are Youths preparing to celebrate a sacrifice : the last of the large figures has a basket on its head. 24. One small Bas-relief; one sitting, two stand- ing figures. 25. One Female figure sitting (much mutilated). 26. One trunk, with drapery (a young Man). 27. Two fragments of Grecian ornaments. 28. One Grecian fragment, with Vase in bas- relief. 29. One fragment, with two Figures in high relief. 30. One Grecian Pilaster with Corinthian Capital. 31. Fragment of a Female. 32. Fragment of a Female figure enveloped in drapery. S3. Sundry small fragments. 34. Egyptian -Scarabreus, brought from Con- stantinople. 6. Solid Urn, with Groupe in bas-relief, super- scribed. 7. Ditto ditto ditto. 8. Ditto ditto ditto. 9- One ditto ditto ornamented Sepulchral Urn. 10. Small fragment of a Vase, with figures. 11. Spherical Sepulchral Urn, broken in pieces. N. B. — This contained the Bronze Urn (No. 12.) U rn s b . (. Bronze .) 12. Richly wrought Urn, from the tomb called “ of Aspasia,” in the plain of Attica. 13. Two bronze Urns, of rude shape and work- manship. Urns'. {Earthen.) 14. Some hundreds of large and small earthen- ware Urns or Vases, discovered in digging in the ancient Sepulchres round Athens : none of great beauty, or richly ornamented. o Altars. 1. Altar, with Female figure and Child. 2. Smaller Altar, with figures and inscription. 3. Fragment of a small Bacchanalian Altar; on one side is a Bacchante, on the other a Fawn. 4. Small Altar, with inscription and figures. 5. Ditto. 6. Ditto. 7. Ditto. 8. Ditto. P Cippi, or Sepulchral Pillars. 1 . One large Sepulchral Pillar, with inscriptions. 2. One smaller ditto ditto ditto. 3. One small Sepulchral Pillar. 4. Ditto ditto 5. Ditto ditto. 6. Ditto ditto. 7. Ditto ditto. 8. Ditto ditto. 9. Ditto ditto. 10. Ditto ditto. 11. Ditto ditto. 12. Ditto ditto. 13. Three fragments, with circular Pedestals and Festoons. Q Casts. N Urns*. {Marble.) 1. Solid Urn, with Groupe in bas-relief, super- scribed. 2. Ditto ditto ditto. 3. Ditto ditto ditto. 4. Ditto ditto ditto. 5. Ditto ditto ditto. 1. Eighteen Casts, from the Frize of the Celia of the Parthenon. 2. Twenty-four ditto, from the Frize and Metopes of the Temple of Theseus. S. Twelve ditto, from the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates (mentioned above.) 4. One Cast, from the great Sarcophagus in the cathedral church at Girgenti in Sicily. [Also the Moulds of the above.] L ■ i PLATE IV. A transverse Section of the Portico to the West. Here the exterior columns are removed to shew the place of the Frieze enriched with sculpture, which is continued quite round the Celia of the Temple, the representation of which forms the principal subjects ot the following Plates. PLATE V. The Pediments of the Temple as they were in the Year 1683. These exhibit the entire composition of the sculpture in that to the West, before the Temple was destroyed by the explosion of the bomb in 1687. This Plate was made from a tracing, obtained with some difficulty from Paris, by means of General Miranda, in 1810. The following remarks are translated from a communication, accompanying the tracings, from M. Legrand, architect, to General Miranda. “ No. 1. Two drawings, which ought to be united*, shewing together the figures of the western Pediment “ of the Temple of Minerva at Athens. They were made by order of M. de Nointel, the French ambassador “ at the Ottoman Porte, in 1683, before the destruction of part of the Temple by a bomb thrown by the “ Venetians. See No. 1951 of the ‘ Topographie de laTurquie d’ Europe.’ “ This is the account written on the originals, which are drawn in red chalk, relieved by a ground of “ black : they appear to be faithful copies, but the artist has given to the forms something of the style of “ that period. They are deficient in the great and severe character of Grecian sculpture. I have copied “ them exactly as they are, without the least alteration. “ There are in the same Collection thirty-eight other drawings of the friezes and bas-reliefs of this Temple, u and that of Theseus, executed in the same manner, a bad view, some bas-reliefs of the Tower of the “ Winds, and of another edifice ; but there is nothing of what has been commonly called the Lantern of “ Demosthenes. “ I am indebted for the following observations to M. Fauvel, painter and antiquary, wh<5 has resided “ fifteen years at Athens and in its neighbourhood, and who has moulded most of these sculptures. “ These figures had bronze ornaments, at least if one may judge from the head of Sabina A, which, “ having fallen off, being much mutilated, has been brought to M. Fauvel. Holes may, still be observed, “ apparently to receive little gudgeons of bronze by which the crown was fastened. The head B of the “ Emperor Hadrian still remains. This group has probably been supplied afterwards in honour of this “ Emperor : it is of a different workmanship from the other figures. “ All these beautiful remains of the two pediments are of Pentelicf marble of the finest execution, and “ most exquisite workmanship ; the figures are insulated, and as carefully finished behind as in front ; “ they were probably executed separately in the workshop, and put successively in their places. One may “ see still in the blocks of the tympanum, holes and even fragments of the bolts and cramps, which retained “ these figures in their places. The iron was black and decomposed by time. M. Fauvel thinks that some “ process must have been used, which has preserved them for so long a period. “ One of the horses of the car still exists, built up in the walls of the fortress. The egis at C is very “ remarkable. It is not easy to decide if the heads at D were fragments, or if they were intended to repre- “ sent people in the back-ground : whatever they are, they exist in the original drawing. “ The figure at E fell down, and the head being buried in the earth, while the legs and the lower part of “ the body were exposed, the Turks, who pass by continually in their way to the mosque, have broken it, “ and incrusted the fragments in the walls, from which, however, they might be collected and restored : this “ M. Fauvel was in hopes of being able to accomplish. “ The work at F, which is apparently of brick, has been either added, in order to sustain the figure “ in danger of falling, or to support a little bell : the appearance of an arch is favourable to this latter “ supposition. \Mi * In this Plate they have been united, t The only Parian marble employed at Athens is ii soffites, is of Pentelic marble. the bas-reliefs of the Temple of Theseus ; every thing else, except some enriched U DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 85 ,{ In the angle 77, of the eastern pediment, were four horses’ heads ; but only two are readily distin- u guished from below. M, Fauvel, who has ascended the ruin, observed arms rising from the sea at 7, iAo7roAEj(*oc SJe b fleof. Proclus, comm. I. in Timseo. “ The feast of the Panathenaia seems to manifest that perfect order which extends from the (divine) mind, to the (material) “ world; and likewise the unconfused distinction of the mundane contrarieties; for this Goddess is the Goddess of Wisdom as “ well as of War.” By this it appears to have been the opinion of Proclus, that some pious, though mysterious philosophic doctrines were then taught. These figures, and those of the following Plate, confirm that opinion •. we there see, if I mistake not, the Hierophants explaining and inculcating these doctrines to theMystaj, or persons to be initiated. t napflevoi Suo th va3 Thf woXi aiot oIkSot a oroppaj, xahivt Se *A0i>W7of c-Epsi V ras »e SvyaVpat aula*, vtglia, xai rxiaiia. IlarpOC. in VOCe ZxafnQ&t. “ The law has ordained, that in the processions the sojourners themselves should carry trays, and that their daughters should carry lt pitchers of water and umbrellas.” j ’Ey T# y { navafinvaioij itaa-ai w! f PLATE LXI. Exhibits the remaining Pieces of the Frieze on a smaller Scale, brought together at one Tiew, with the Chasm which the Progress of Time, or the Hand of Man , have caused in this truly stupendous Work of Ancient Art . A. The West Front. B. The North. C. The East: D. The South. It is remarkable, that the harness of the horses in this Frieze was of metal: the holes by which it was fixed to the marble are still distinctly visible. The Thunderbolt likewise in the hand of Jupiter, Plate XXII, and the ornaments of several other Figures, have been covered with the same material. The Frontispiece is taken from the celebrated Bust of that renowned Athenian worthy, Pericles, which is in the Townley Collection of Marbles at the British Museum. I 7 / \* A Critical and Historical Account of these Sculptures has recently been Published in “ Two Memoirs read to the Royal Institute of France, by Fisconti,” octavo; and further information respecting them may be obtained from the “ Memorandum of Lord Elgin's Pursuits in Greece,” octavo. THE END. PRINTED BY J. MOYES, Greville Street, Hatton Garden, London. ** nun -2>Z'0. 4>?v? ty‘J*f/iiart. - — ' »>, : MreiMl ■■■■■ • : sjjSS^^ ' • .. . • ■ #• • ; , . V. V ' /., m bn JWt/M J&H.ZO". M lat/M/u/ -u/ in ///Ml ./,!/! ■' / /mo. fiy .1 71tr/or J>Z. 12 Zimilaii,:J‘iilih.rlinl Jam — f . . ■ , • • t ] I 1 ■ • . ' PuUu/t-d Octr 27 *7*7 teooriL = Miti y i/rfii/i ,/ ,xceert/iny I* 1.I810. hy ./. Taylni: - ^ 1 ill 55L- ~.=7 J ... ___ _ - . . •mmm ^cnr? I = WMwSmmm 1 \ ' I 1 •V : \ . 4 * . •- 1 1 1 - ' * ■ *