Italian museum to return frieze piece from Parthenon to Greece

ROME (DPA): The Antonino Salinas Museum of Archaeology, located in Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily, has decided to return an ornamental piece from the Parthenon – a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis – to its homeland Greece.

It is part of a large frieze from the east side of the building on the acropolis in Athens, the museum announced Palermo on Wednesday.

The marble fragment depicts a foot, though it’s not clear whose: It could belong either to the Greek goddess of seduction Peitho or the goddess of the hunt Artemis.

The frieze comes from the archaeological collection of the 19th century English consul Robert Fagan. How it came into his hands is not clear, but after his death, his wife inherited the fragment and sold it to what is now the Antonio Salinas Museum.

The agreement for the return was reached between Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and Sicilian Cultural Assessor Alberto Samona on the basis of the Italian Code for Cultural Property.

According to the agreement, the Sicilian museum will initially give the fragment to Athens for four years and would receive two pieces from the collection of the Acropolis Museum in return.

The ultimate goal, however, is for the marble carving to remain in Athens permanently.