Almost two years ago, in August 2023, news broke that a series of thefts had taken place in the Greek and Roman collection of the British Museum. Higgs, who denies responsibility, had been sacked the previous month for gross misconduct.
In addition to being petitioned by the Greeks, the British Museum is being challenged for its holding of bronzes looted in the late nineteenth century by British forces from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria.
What is the most controversial item in the British Museum?
The Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Sculptures)
The Elgin Marbles, or Parthenon Sculptures, come from the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece – and continue to represent one of the longest-running controversies concerning the British Museum's collection.
On 16 August 2023, the Museum announced that a number of items of jewellery from the collection had been found to be stolen, missing or damaged (Opens in new window), and that this was the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service.
In 2020, Danish antiquities dealer Dr Ittai Gradel began to suspect an eBay seller he had been buying from was a thief who was stealing from the British Museum. More than two years later, the museum would announce that thousands of objects were missing, stolen or damaged from its collection.
Cupboard 55 of the British Museum contains what remains of its Secretum – the secret museum of artifacts once deemed too sexually explicit for public display. A large part of the Secretum derived from a “Collection Illustrative of Phallic Worship” donated by George Witt in 1865–6.
First published in 1965, it tells the story of hapless, scooter-riding young research student Adam Appleby, who is trying to write his thesis but is constantly distracted - not least by the fact that, as Catholics in the 1960s, he and his wife must rely on 'Vatican roulette' to avoid a fourth child.
The largest art theft in world history occurred in Boston on March 18, 1990, when thieves stole 13 pieces, collectively valued at $500 million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Among the pieces stolen was Vermeer's The Concert, which is considered to be the most valuable stolen painting in the world.
What was the cleaning scandal at the British Museum?
In 1937-8, in preparation for a new gallery given by Lord Duveen, an unauthorised cleaning of the Parthenon Sculptures in The British Museum was carried out. Initially the incident was hidden from the public, but it soon got into the press and a scandal ensued.
The oldest item is the Olduvai stone chopping tool, which is some 1.8 million years old, found in an early campsite in Tanzania. The British Museum has long recognised that some of the items it houses are contested – a reminder of Britain's colonial exploits. Below are some of the museum's most famous items.
What is the most famous item in the British Museum?
The Rosetta Stone (Room 4)
The Rosetta Stone is the Museum's most popular exhibit, so don't leave without seeing it for yourself. Please note you can find a replica of the Rosetta Stone, on display in the Enlightenment Gallery (Room 1).
What happened to Peter Higgs at the British Museum?
Despite months of investigation and even a BBC series on the case, Higgs has not been charged with any offence, although the museum has sacked him and is bringing a civil case against him. The scandal led to the resignation of the museum's then director Hartwig Fischer.
Today, the sister stands alone in the British Museum, suffering in the windowless gallery while global historians and government officials protest to bring her to her homeland in Greece. While the museum claims they have the right to legally own her, growing decolonization in museum movements beg to differ.
When the British defeated the French, they took the stone to London under the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801. Since 1802, it has been on public display at the British Museum almost continuously and it is the most visited object there.
The British Museum is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), operating at arm's length from government, but accountable to parliament. It's sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport with whom it has a Management agreement (Opens in new window).
Why won't the British Museum return stolen artifacts?
Several British laws also prevent the museums from outright returning these artifacts to Ghana: the British Museum Act of 1963 bans the museum from removing an artifact from its collection unless it is a duplicate, is damaged or is deemed “unfit” for the collection.
Now, as Britain's largest museum marks the 200-year anniversary of the decipherment of hieroglyphics, thousands of Egyptians are demanding the stone's return.
The scandal began on 16 August 2023, when the British Museum released a statement substantiating that it had identified objects missing from its collection. Ten days later, former Chancellor, George Osborne - chair of the British Museum since June 2021 - confirmed to the BBC that around 2,000 objects were missing.
What another object has been stolen from the British Museum but this time by an artist?
Ilê Sartuzi's short-lived heist involving a 17th-century coin draws parallels to the recent scandal over the theft of thousands of items from the museum's collection. An artist has stolen an historical coin from its display case in the British Museum in London and deposited it in a donation box in the museum's lobby.
“The most colossal theft of modern times,” resulted in Leonardo da Vinci's “Mona Lisa” becoming the most colossal art of all times. In the early morning of August 21, 1911, former Louvre employee, Vincenzo Perugia, made off with the “Mona Lisa,” with hopes to return the painting to her rightful home, Italy.
Rembrandt's Missing Masterpiece: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Rembrandt van Rijn is known for his famous paintings that contain biblical scenes and religious figures. During his career, Rembrandt only painted one seascape known as The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
The Louvre's combination of innovative technology, meticulous art protection strategies, and comprehensive emergency protocols place it among the most secure museums in the world. It sets the standard for safeguarding cultural heritage.
What are the most controversial pieces in the British Museum?
1. The Rosetta Stone. One of the most famous objects in the British Museum is, in fact, part of a bigger stone slab. It was erected at an Egyptian temple in 196 BC, during the reign of Ptolemy V, but has been in the hands of the British Museum since 1802.
What is the name of the controversial carvings at the British Museum?
The term "Parthenon Sculptures" is used in this sense by both the British Museum and the Greek government. Mario Trabucco della Torretta argues that while "Elgin Marbles" is the legal name of the collection, those advocating restitution prefer "Parthenon Sculptures".
On Napoleon's defeat, the stone became the property of the British under the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria (Opens in new window) (1801) along with other antiquities that the French had found. The stone was shipped to England and arrived in Portsmouth in February 1802.
