Justified emotion

The American newspapers announced that Greece intended to give Praxiteles' Hermes to the United States as a gift of thanks. Seized with emotion at the idea that such a masterpiece could leave Europe, French colleagues protested, only to breathe a sigh of relief when they learned that the news was false.

But where is the famous statue by the great Athenian artist, and how authentic is it?

All the dictionaries tell us that none of Praxiteles' works have survived. The Capitoline Museum, the Britisch Museum and the Louvre only possess copies or presumed imitations. So this Hermes, this famous Hermes!

In any case, in order to make a gift of it to the Americans, it would have been necessary to vitiate a Greek law that prohibits the export from the soil of Attica, not only of an objet d'art but even of a simple stone. A wise law indeed, for without it, English tourists would long ago have taken everything with them, following the example of their compatriot Lord Elgin...