Arundelian Marbles

Arundelian Marbles. A collection of ancient Greek sculptures from Smyrna and elsewhere, originally formed by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, and presented to the University of Oxford in 1667 by his grandson, Henry Howard, afterwards Duke of Norfolk. The most important is the Marmor Parium, a chronological table of Greek history on Parian marble, originally extending from 1582 to 263 B.C., but now much defaced and mutilated. It seems to have been originally drawn up by a schoolmaster for his pupils' use. The Arundelian Society, founded in 1848 to promote the study of Art in England, took its name from this Earl of Arundel. Its reproductions of mediaeval pictures are well known.