Lucia Patrizio Gunning and Debbie Challis argue that a letter from Charles Thomas Newton, keeper of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, illustrates that the plunder of cultural heritage was planned.
The acquisition of these objects through colonial violence constitutes a strong moral reason for their repatriation from the British Museum and the numerous institutions in which they are dispersed.
Understanding the planning involved in their plunder illustrates the entanglement of politics and imperialism with scientific and cultural institutions that constituted the backbone of Victorian Britain.
