During his first trip to Greece in 1801, Edward Dodwell was a witness to the removal of the Parthenon friezes by Lord Elgin’s agents. In his travelogue, he severely condemns Elgin’s intervention on the ancient Greek monuments of the Athenian Acropolis, echoing positions held in European artistic and intellectual circles that denounced the British ambassador’s deed as vandalism and theft. Dodwell is one of the rare observers to also document the indignation of the local inhabitants of Athens, both Greeks and Turks, triggered by Elgin’s appropriation of the sculptures.

commented by Eleonora Vratskidou

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