Elgin Marbles: British Museum loan 'an affront to the Greek people'

The Greek prime minister has said the British Museum's decision to loan one of the Elgin Marbles to Russia is "an affront" to the Greek people.

Antonis Samaras added: "We Greeks are one with our history and civilisation, which cannot be broken up, loaned out, or conceded."

He said Britain's view that the marbles could not be moved was now invalid.

A depiction of the river god Ilissos will go on show in St Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum.

It is due to remain on display in the Russian city until mid-January.

The work is one of a number of relics acquired by Lord Elgin in Athens in the early 19th Century, now known collectively as the Elgin Marbles.

Ownership of the artefacts, once part of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple, is disputed by Greece.

It maintains that Lord Elgin removed them illegally while the country was under Turkish occupation as part of the Ottoman Empire. The items have remained in the British Museum ever since.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, said it was a "very big moment".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is the first time ever that the people of Russia have been able to see this great moment of European art and European thought."

Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30349730