Vatican Returns Three Parthenon Fragments to Greece

In early March 2023, the Vatican Museums returned three Parthenon fragments to Greece, following a December 2022 announcement by Pope Francis. The fragments—a horse's head from the pediment depicting the contest between Athena and Poseidon, a boy's head from the naos, and a bearded male head from a south metope—arrived at the Vatican in the 19th century. The agreement was signed by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Greek representative Papamikroulis Emmanouil, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, and Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta. A ceremony in Athens on March 24 will welcome the fragments. Meanwhile, the Museo Archeologico Salinas in Palermo returned the "Fagan Fragment" (a foot of a goddess) to the Acropolis Museum in early 2022 on a four-year renewable loan, in exchange for a headless Athena statue and a geometric amphora. The British Museum negotiations remain contentious: Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis seeks a 20-year return of all Elgin marbles, while British Museum chair George Osborne offers only a third of the collection for a short period, constrained by UK law prohibiting deaccession.