Held in Mylor Theatre, Truro College
It is now around 200 years since the purchase of the so-called 'Elgin Marbles' from Lord Elgin, by the British Parliament. This lecture, beautifully illustrated with specifically taken slides and video, will explore the aesthetics, the back-story, and the heated debates surrounding these fascinating and controversial works of ancient Greek art:
What do we mean by 'the Elgin Marbles'?
How and why were they originally created?
Why are they so highly regarded?
What happened to them between their creation and Elgin's time?
How did he acquire them?
Why are they now in the British Museum?
And why are there such passionately held views both for and against their repatriation to Greece?
Lecturer Steve Kershaw
As a Classics Tutor for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, Professor of History of Art for Rhodes College and The University of the South, and a lecturer for the V&A, Steve Kershaw has spent much of the last 30 years travelling extensively in the world of the Greeks and Romans both physically and intellectually.
His publications include A Brief Guide to the Greek Myths, A Brief Guide to the Roman Empire, and Mythologica – a children’s book on Greek mythology which was Amazon.com’s Best Children’s Non-Fiction Book of 2019.