Palermo Fragment

{{short description|Marble fragment from the Acropolis of Athens, removed by Lord Elgin}}

{{distinguish|Palermo Stone}}

File:Frammentopartenone.JPG frieze, known as the Palermo fragment, at the Salinas Archaeological Museum, Palermo]]

The Palermo fragment, also known as Fagan slab from the name of the artist and British consul Robert Fagan who owned it, is a 2,500-year-old marble sculpture fragment of the foot and dress of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/italy-returns-parthenon-marble-fragment-to-greece-1.769103 Italy returns Parthenon marble fragment to Greece]. CBC News. 24 September 2008. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180621052842/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/italy-returns-parthenon-marble-fragment-to-greece-1.769103 Archive].

The Palermo fragment was taken by Lord Elgin from the Parthenon in the early 19th century and given to the British Consul to Sicily in 1816.{{cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8CB4km-01Y4Ta3mxs6P0Z7hMzSA |title=AFP: Italy returns long lost Parthenon fragment to Greece |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927051011/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8CB4km-01Y4Ta3mxs6P0Z7hMzSA |archive-date=2008-09-27 }} For the past two centuries, the fragment had been kept at the Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo.{{cite web |url=http://www.xpatathens.com/news/18806 |title=Italy has returned to Greece the 'Palermo fragment' - XpatAthens.com - Daily news |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718132559/http://www.xpatathens.com/news/18806 |archive-date=2011-07-18 }} Greece's 13-year campaign for the return of the fragment ended on 24 September 2008, when Italian President Giorgio Napolitano delivered the fragment to Athens on a temporary loan.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE48N4PU20080924|title = Greece welcomes home Parthenon marble from Italy|newspaper = Reuters|date = 24 September 2008}} This move was anticipated to strengthen Greece's request for the British Museum to return the Elgin Marbles.{{Cite web|url=http://culturalpropertylaw.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/italy-returns-missing-foot-to-greece/|title = Italy returns missing foot to Greece|date = 25 September 2008}} In 2022, the fragment was permanently returned to the Acropolis Museum, where it has been reunited with the rest of the Parthenon frieze.{{Cite book |last=Titi |first=Catharine |author-link=Catharine Titi |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |title=The Parthenon Marbles and International Law |date=2023 |isbn=978-3-031-26356-9 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-26357-6 |s2cid=258846977}} The Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo is one of three collections to have returned Parthenon fragments to Greece.{{Cite web |last=Titi |first=Catharine |date=2023-02-15 |title=Debate: Sorry, British Museum, a loan of the Parthenon Marbles is not a repatriation |url=https://theconversation.com/debate-sorry-british-museum-a-loan-of-the-parthenon-marbles-is-not-a-repatriation-199468 |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}