A small horse hides somewhere in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum. How small? Smaller than the smallest visible wavelength of light – so small that the museum is extremely unlikely to ever find it. And that’s exactly what the Institute for Digital Archeology (IDA) at Oxford wants.
The 19 micron steed is a perfect replica of the horse Selene, one of the most disputed horses Parthenon Sculptures, and IDA sees it as a perfect fusion of ancient Greek craftsmanship and modern engineering. It’s quite possibly the smallest 3D copy of anything.
The horse Selene was surreptitiously released (with Pink Panther-esque gloves) by the IDA in the wilderness of the British Museum’s Duveen Gallery on April 14 with the aim of stimulating dialogue around the return of the Parthenon sculptures. The artifacts were acquired by Lord Elgin from the Ottomans in the early 19th century under dubious circumstances and Greece long required their return.
The miniature sculpture of the horse Selene. Photo: IDA/AD Karenowska
“We wanted to explore ideas of control over historical objects,” IDA executive director Roger Michel told Artnet News. “The British Museum has sculptures it took from someone else and won’t return. Now, thanks to us, he has quite an interesting sculpture in his own right that has been imposed on the museum, but does not have the power to remove it.
The British Museum is not interested in a sculpture the size of a speck of dust – in fact, it barely acknowledges the existence of the little horse. When asked how the research was going, the museum responded to Artnet News saying it was aware of IDA’s claims but had “not received any evidence to prove it”.
Michel shed some light on the museum’s response: “The British Museum is cohesive if nothing else. When it comes to historical denial, no one is better.
One of the gloves left by the IDA agent. Photo: IDA/AD Karenowska
This is the second committed social effort IDA has undertaken on the Parthenon sculptures.
Last year, after being denied permission to scan the 5th-century marbles, Michel and his team scanned them in secret using digital imaging software on tablets and smartphones. They created life-size reproductions of the horse Selene, as well as the famous metope representing the bloody battle between the centaurs and the lapiths at the wedding of Peirithoos. The works have been on display at the Freud Museum in London.
The controversy over the Parthenon Marbles is the perfect terrain for IDA to simultaneously address issues of heritage and authenticity, while showcasing its expertise in reconstruction on an architectural scale. For the director of the IDA, confronting the British Museum has a personal dimension. Michel is fascinated by the place that marbles and the debate surrounding them occupy in the British psyche and, as a lawyer, he is drawn to the legal aspect, which he believes is largely unexplored.
The miniature Selene horse seen before being created. Photo: IDA/AD Karenowska
“I will convene a mock tribunal at Winchester College next month,” Michel said, “joined by legal experts from the United States and the United Kingdom, to attempt to resolve once and for all the legal issues surrounding the Elgin dispute. “
It is unlikely that the court change one’s mind inside the British Museum (dismantling of the museum’s Parthenon collection, said its president“must not become the careless act of a single generation”), but whatever it is, a tiny horse has left the stable and, just like its grandparents, it will not return to the home anytime soon.
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