ELGIN MARBLES

ELGIN MARBLES, a collection of ancient sculptured marbles brought from Athens by the Earl of Elgin in 1812, and now deposited in the British Museum, after purchase of them by the Government for £35,000; these sculptures adorned certain public buildings in the Acropolis, and consist of portions of statues, of which that of Theseus is the chief, of alto-reliefs representing the struggle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and of a large section of a frieze.