
The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
The marble statue of the river god Ilissos, from the west pediment of the Parthenon in Greece, was designed by Pheidias in Athens during 438BC - 432BC. The British Museum is lending this statue, one of the Elgin Marbles, to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
The Ilissos sculpture "is one of the finest of those to survive from the Parthenon," the British Museum said.

The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
A detail of the Ilissos torso. This is the first time any of the statues have been lent to a foreign museum.

The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
The Elgin Marbles are a set of Parthenon sculptures in a frieze that once adorned the upper sections of the temple in the Greek capital of Athens.

The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
Marble portrait bust of renowned leader of Athens, Pericles. This is a Roman copy of an original portrait which was perhaps created in Pericles' own day, or shortly after his death.

The controversial loan of an Elgin Marble —
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Greece has for decades been demanding the return of the sculptures, which were "acquired" by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1805, bought from him by the British Parliament in 1816, and later presented to the British Museum.