@davidc4430 wrote:
@joztamps wrote:I don't disagree with giving them back, but from a negotiating point of view the English could say "Righto boys, one in all in, everybody turn out your pockets (read museums) and start shipping all "your" stuff back to whence it came"
so fine, all countries holding 'stuff' they got way back when, either get written permission to have it from the govt of today where it came from or give it back.
cant see a problem with that.
of course they could offer to 'buy' the stuff
It would be a total mare's nest if carried through to its logical conclusion.
It would make massive differences to the streetscapes of many cities (European and American mainly, but others as well) and would empty and fill churches, mosques, temples, museums and art galleries worldwide.
And deciding where they end up is another issue altogether.
For example, why should the Elgin Marbles go to the Greek Government and not to Turkey, successor to the then-ruling government, and the body from whom they were "stolen" (if it happened)?
And to take another example, do the St Marks Horses go to Chios/Greece, Rome/Italy (successor to Byzantium) or Constantinople/Istanbul/Turkey (another successor to Byzantium)?
