DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15096#0046
29
interior; they exhibit in an unquestionable manner the situations
of the columns both in the cella and opisthodomus. In the latter
the 4 larger slabs show the 4 columns, and in the cella the alternate
pavings show the 16 columns. The traces of the diameters were
discoverable in some of them. Those of the western chamber hav-
ing been thirty six feet in height, their proportion must have been
nearly the same as that of the Ionic columns of the vestibule of the
Propylaea: whence it seems highly probable that the same order
was used in the interior of both these contemporary buildings. In
the eastern chamber of the Parthenon the smallness of the diameter
of the columns leaves little doubt that there was an upper range, as
in the temples of Paestum and iEgina. Within the cella was an
example of chryselephantine sculpture/4) having but one rival in
Greece. The statue of the goddess in ivory and gold, according to
Pliny, was 39 feet 7 inches high/6) exclusive of the pedestal which
was from 8 to 12 feet high. The spear which she held in the left
hand was supported by a sphinx of brass, and near it was the Eric-
thonian serpent. Upon the convex side of the shield, which was
placed on the ground, was a representation of the battle of the
Greeks and Amazons, and on its concave side the contest of the
Gods and Giants.(6) On the edges of the sole of the sandals, which
was of the Tyrrhenean fashion, probably from 12 to 18 inches
thick, was the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithee.
Plato informs us that the eyes of the Minerva were of ivory,
except the pupils which were of precious stones/75 Pausanias tells
us the figure of a sphinx occupied the summit of the helmet, on
either side of which were griffins (ypvrreQ): the statue was erect
with a robe reaching to the feet, on the breast was a head of Medusa
4 According to Thucydides, the value of the gold amounted to 40 talents.
6 Pliny, 1. xxxvi. c. iv. s. 4.
« lb. ib. He says the shield was embossed by Phidias with figures, and painted by
him; but the interior of the shield was painted by Panaenus.
? Plato in Hipp. Maj. s. 23.
interior; they exhibit in an unquestionable manner the situations
of the columns both in the cella and opisthodomus. In the latter
the 4 larger slabs show the 4 columns, and in the cella the alternate
pavings show the 16 columns. The traces of the diameters were
discoverable in some of them. Those of the western chamber hav-
ing been thirty six feet in height, their proportion must have been
nearly the same as that of the Ionic columns of the vestibule of the
Propylaea: whence it seems highly probable that the same order
was used in the interior of both these contemporary buildings. In
the eastern chamber of the Parthenon the smallness of the diameter
of the columns leaves little doubt that there was an upper range, as
in the temples of Paestum and iEgina. Within the cella was an
example of chryselephantine sculpture/4) having but one rival in
Greece. The statue of the goddess in ivory and gold, according to
Pliny, was 39 feet 7 inches high/6) exclusive of the pedestal which
was from 8 to 12 feet high. The spear which she held in the left
hand was supported by a sphinx of brass, and near it was the Eric-
thonian serpent. Upon the convex side of the shield, which was
placed on the ground, was a representation of the battle of the
Greeks and Amazons, and on its concave side the contest of the
Gods and Giants.(6) On the edges of the sole of the sandals, which
was of the Tyrrhenean fashion, probably from 12 to 18 inches
thick, was the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithee.
Plato informs us that the eyes of the Minerva were of ivory,
except the pupils which were of precious stones/75 Pausanias tells
us the figure of a sphinx occupied the summit of the helmet, on
either side of which were griffins (ypvrreQ): the statue was erect
with a robe reaching to the feet, on the breast was a head of Medusa
4 According to Thucydides, the value of the gold amounted to 40 talents.
6 Pliny, 1. xxxvi. c. iv. s. 4.
« lb. ib. He says the shield was embossed by Phidias with figures, and painted by
him; but the interior of the shield was painted by Panaenus.
? Plato in Hipp. Maj. s. 23.