Dear Sir
It is wholly inappropriate for the Elgin Marbles to be housed in the British Museum's Duveen Galleries(" Elgin Marbles to move--but not to Greece",July 3). They are named after Joe Duveen (1869-1939) who made a fortune by buying old masters for a song from impoverished aristocrats and selling them at an immense profit to American millionaires. In return for making lavish donations to the Museum, he was made a trustee in 1929, becoming the first dealer ever to buy his way on to the board. The new galleries for which he paid in 1931 horrified his fellow trustee, Lord Crawford, who described them as " a painful contrast to the strength and simplicity of the new Pergamon Room at Berlin". The Marbles were lucky to escape serious damage. Duveen wanted them to be " thoroughly cleaned--so thoroughly he would dip them in acid".
Yours faithfully
Lord Lexden
London SW1
Printed in the Daily Telegraph, 11th July 2014