There was always a feeling in Madrid he would return. The club takes pride in bringing former greats back for coaching or management roles, like Zinedine Zidane or Jorge Valdano, and Alonso seemed predestined for coaching after a playing career spent managing teammates.
The 7th century B.C. artifact was on display at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, the city that in ancient times was the birthplace of the games that later inspired the modern Olympic Games.Greece’s culture minister, Lina Mendoni, attended a ceremony Friday at the museum, calling the return a significant moment.
“After decades of absence, the griffin returns from the Metropolitan Museum in New York to the place it belongs,” she said, praising the joint effort by the Culture Ministry and the Met to trace the artifact’s past. The ceremony coincided with a visit to Greece by members of the International Olympic Committee to elect a new president.became the first woman and first African to lead the global body.The griffin, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, symbolized strength and divine protection in ancient Greece. The bronze head will now be displayed alongside a similar griffin head already at the Olympia museum.
to review the history of its holdings, hiring additional experts to track the origins of objects in its collection.“We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with the Greek government and look forward to continued engagement and cultural exchange,” the Met’s museum director Max Hollein said in a statement.
Institutions across the world in recent years have begun to acknowledge the importance of returning significant cultural items while still promoting global access to heritage. As part of this new framework, Greece has agreed to loan the griffin head back to the Met for future exhibitions, Mendoni said. Athens is hoping the new, more open approach will boost its decades-long campaign for the return of the
, taken from the Acropolis in Athens in the 19th century and now in the British Museum. The government — citing their cultural importance and illegal removal — says it is making slow progress in negotiations with the London museum.When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can
the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can beThe social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a
to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.