Lord Elgin (1766-1841) held the position as British ambassador in Constantinople (Istanbul) and took down all the marble reliefs he possibly could from the Parthenon. Demeter and Persephone was originally featured on the temple’s eastern pediment. Elgin’s collection was given to the British Museum in 1816.
Thorvaldsen received Finden’s proof print as a gift. The etching is a plate for Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum, Part VI, London 1830.
