The Louvre preserves a large number of Greek antiquities, including some fragments of the Parthenon.
Two of them were “found” in 1788 and 1789 by the painter, diplomat and archaeologist Louis-François-Sébastien Fauvel (1753-1838), who worked then for the Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier (1752-1817), French ambassador to the Empire ottoman.
Other fragments reputed to belong to the Parthenon were acquired much more recently. A head belonging to a metope, was sold to the Louvre in 1880. Another head, called the “Laborde head”, was in 1927 by the Count of Laborde. A third head, which could come from the frieze, was given in 1916 by the daughter-in-law of the first director of the French School of Athens, between 1846 and 1867, Amédée Daveluy. Only an architectural fragment of the Parthenon was donated before 1815.
Several of these fragments could therefore be affected by the law on restitution. A question remains open regarding the new text: does it also apply to looted, stolen objects, etc.? before 1815, but entered the public domain after that date?
France, which has close diplomatic ties and friendship with Greece, could opt for restitution even beyond the law, thus drawing inspiration from the examples of the Vatican, Italy and University of Heidelberg (Germany), who have already handed over the fragments of the Parthenon that they have housed in their collections.
In any case, it seems essential to examine in a criticizes the provenance of works in our public collections, whether colonial or archaeological.
