DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14134#0036
28
to the right knee. As the head and most of the right
arm are wanting, their action must be a matter of
conjecture; the general motion of the figure seems to
indicate the moment of sudden transition from repose to
action, and would be consistent with the supposition that
the head was turned towards the central group, watching
the momentous issue of the contest, and that the Kiver-God
was in the act of rising. In that case his right hand may
have been drawing forward the end of his cMamys over
his right knee. This figure has been long and deservedly
celebrated for the perfection of its anatomy. In the
front of the body, the flexibility of the abdominal muscles
is finely contrasted with the strong framework of the
ribs. The supple elastic character of the skin is here
rendered with the same mastery as in the horse's head of
the eastern pediment. At the back some of the surface
has retained its original polish. In the undulating lines
of the drapery the sculptor has succeeded in suggesting
the idea of flowing water without having recourse to
direct or conventional imitation. The ground on which
the figure reclines is a rock. The left hand rested on the
bed of the pediment. A drawing by Pars taken during his
visit to Athens in 1765-66 shows part of the right fore-
arm not shown in Carrey's drawing and the outline of
the four fingers of the left hand overlapping the edge of
the pediment. Between (A) and the two next figures
(B, C) a space is shown in Dalton's drawing sufficient for
a crouching figure, though no vestige of such a figure is
indicated by Carrey. This lacune may have been filled by
a crouching Water Nymph, associated with the Eiver-God.
(Mus. Marbles, vi. pll. 13, 14; Harrison, No. 700 ; Caldesi,
No. 5.)
[B and C] Kekrops and Pandrosos (cast).—This
group still remains on the pediment, though much injured
by exposure to the weather. It consists of a male figure,
to the right knee. As the head and most of the right
arm are wanting, their action must be a matter of
conjecture; the general motion of the figure seems to
indicate the moment of sudden transition from repose to
action, and would be consistent with the supposition that
the head was turned towards the central group, watching
the momentous issue of the contest, and that the Kiver-God
was in the act of rising. In that case his right hand may
have been drawing forward the end of his cMamys over
his right knee. This figure has been long and deservedly
celebrated for the perfection of its anatomy. In the
front of the body, the flexibility of the abdominal muscles
is finely contrasted with the strong framework of the
ribs. The supple elastic character of the skin is here
rendered with the same mastery as in the horse's head of
the eastern pediment. At the back some of the surface
has retained its original polish. In the undulating lines
of the drapery the sculptor has succeeded in suggesting
the idea of flowing water without having recourse to
direct or conventional imitation. The ground on which
the figure reclines is a rock. The left hand rested on the
bed of the pediment. A drawing by Pars taken during his
visit to Athens in 1765-66 shows part of the right fore-
arm not shown in Carrey's drawing and the outline of
the four fingers of the left hand overlapping the edge of
the pediment. Between (A) and the two next figures
(B, C) a space is shown in Dalton's drawing sufficient for
a crouching figure, though no vestige of such a figure is
indicated by Carrey. This lacune may have been filled by
a crouching Water Nymph, associated with the Eiver-God.
(Mus. Marbles, vi. pll. 13, 14; Harrison, No. 700 ; Caldesi,
No. 5.)
[B and C] Kekrops and Pandrosos (cast).—This
group still remains on the pediment, though much injured
by exposure to the weather. It consists of a male figure,