Olympic Tower | The Parthenon Marble Casts Collection of the C.C.N.Y
On display in the Atrium of the Olympic Tower is The Parthenon Marbles Cast Collection of the City College of New York. The collection was acquired in 1852 and was one of the first sets of Parthenon marbles casts to come to the United States. Although not complete, the casts served an important educational function in the C.C.N.Y. art department's studio and art history classes for more than one hundred years. In 1992 they were placed in storage, awaiting necessary restoration.
In 1999, The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) provided necessary funds for the restoration of the casts, which was completed in the summer of 2000.
The Casts on display, on loan from the City College of New York are direct copies made from the molds of the original marble sculptural decoration of the Parthenon, the supreme monument of Greek antiquity and one of the greatest symbols of Western civilization.
The original marble sculptures, dating from the 5th century B.C., are on display in part at the Acropolis Museum in Athens and, most of them, at the British Museum in London.
Those in London were removed from the Parthenon between 1801-1811 by the British Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce with the agreement of the Turkish occupation authorities in Athens. The original marble sculptures were subsequently placed and are still on display at the British Museum in London. The casts on display were made during the first half of the 19th century, when making casts of famous works of art served study purposes and general appreciation.