Cindy Harman, age 16, of Dover, Del., for her question:

WHAT ARE THE ELGIN MARBLES?

The Elgin Marbles is a collection of Greek marble sculptures brought from Athens to London in 1806 by the British diplomat Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. He had purchased the sculptures from the Turks, who then ruled Greece, to prevent their being pulverized to make building materials.

Elgin was criticized by some people for depriving Greece of priceless national treasures. However, he actually saved the works of art from destruction.

After a long struggle, Elgin persuaded the British government to buy the marbles in 1816 and place them in the British Museum.

The chief pieces in the Elgin Marbles collection, by the 5th Century B.C. master Phidias, are from the frieze and tympani of the Parthenon.

The first examples of high classical Greek sculpture to be seen in England, the Elgin Marbles inspired an enthusiasm for Greece and its art in both the romantic poets and the English public.