DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15096#0047
30
in ivory, which was stolen by Philasas or Philergus/8) and in one
hand a victory 4 cubits high.
On the pedestal the birth of Pandora was represented in relief,
with the twelve gods presenting her their several gifts.(9) This im-
posing statue, composed of such precious materials, and of so many
beautiful and elaborate parts, executed by the hand of Phidias
himself, occupied the entire nave of the temple as a niche. The
porticoes, the height of which was probably confined to the first
order, were adorned with statues, of which two portraits (those
of Hadrian and Iphicrates) are mentioned by Pausanias. These,
as well as the paintings on the walls (especially mentioned by
Pliny)(1) in the pronaos, were probably of the usual proportions in
harmony with the order of architecture, while the statue of the
goddess herself, the more imposing by the contrast, seen from the
door at an angle of about thirty-seven degrees, must have produced
an effect of surprise and admiration which might fully have justi-
fied the eulogies which works of this nature were said to have
elicited from the beholders.(2)
The portion of the nave(3) which was hypsethral, must have been
8 Isocr. adv. Callim. vol. ii. p. 511, ed. Battie.
u Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. iv. s. 4. Ibi Dii sunt xx numero nascentes; which
Stuart proposes to read, " munera porrigentes."
1 Pliny, 1. xxxv. c. xxxvi. s. 20. Protogenes represented the triremes Paralus and
Hammonias, together with several other vessels on a smaller scale. The painting of
the Paralus is praised by Cicero (in Verrem iv. c. lx.). Within the temple were
portraits of Themistocles and Heliodorus; the former was dedicated by the sons of
Themistocles. Paus. Attic, c. i. xxxvii.
2 Quinctilian. Inst. Orat. lib. xii. c. x. Phidias diis quam hominibus efficiendis
melior artifex traditur, in ebore vero longe citra aBmulum vel si nihil nisi Minervam
Athenis aut Olympium in Elide Jovem fecisset: cujus pulchritudo adjecisse aliquid
etiam receptae religioni videtur, adeo majestas operis Deum asquavit.
Livy (l.xlv. c. 28) also relates of Paulus iEmilius, that at Olympia " Jovem velut
pra;sentem intuens motus animo est."
3 The Pantheon at Rome is abundantly lighted from an opening which is only
one-fifth of the whole diameter, a much smaller proportion of the whole than is here
suggested. A similar arrangement of the hypasthral portion of the roof is frequently
seen in the sarcophagi of Greece, often made in imitation of temples.
in ivory, which was stolen by Philasas or Philergus/8) and in one
hand a victory 4 cubits high.
On the pedestal the birth of Pandora was represented in relief,
with the twelve gods presenting her their several gifts.(9) This im-
posing statue, composed of such precious materials, and of so many
beautiful and elaborate parts, executed by the hand of Phidias
himself, occupied the entire nave of the temple as a niche. The
porticoes, the height of which was probably confined to the first
order, were adorned with statues, of which two portraits (those
of Hadrian and Iphicrates) are mentioned by Pausanias. These,
as well as the paintings on the walls (especially mentioned by
Pliny)(1) in the pronaos, were probably of the usual proportions in
harmony with the order of architecture, while the statue of the
goddess herself, the more imposing by the contrast, seen from the
door at an angle of about thirty-seven degrees, must have produced
an effect of surprise and admiration which might fully have justi-
fied the eulogies which works of this nature were said to have
elicited from the beholders.(2)
The portion of the nave(3) which was hypsethral, must have been
8 Isocr. adv. Callim. vol. ii. p. 511, ed. Battie.
u Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. iv. s. 4. Ibi Dii sunt xx numero nascentes; which
Stuart proposes to read, " munera porrigentes."
1 Pliny, 1. xxxv. c. xxxvi. s. 20. Protogenes represented the triremes Paralus and
Hammonias, together with several other vessels on a smaller scale. The painting of
the Paralus is praised by Cicero (in Verrem iv. c. lx.). Within the temple were
portraits of Themistocles and Heliodorus; the former was dedicated by the sons of
Themistocles. Paus. Attic, c. i. xxxvii.
2 Quinctilian. Inst. Orat. lib. xii. c. x. Phidias diis quam hominibus efficiendis
melior artifex traditur, in ebore vero longe citra aBmulum vel si nihil nisi Minervam
Athenis aut Olympium in Elide Jovem fecisset: cujus pulchritudo adjecisse aliquid
etiam receptae religioni videtur, adeo majestas operis Deum asquavit.
Livy (l.xlv. c. 28) also relates of Paulus iEmilius, that at Olympia " Jovem velut
pra;sentem intuens motus animo est."
3 The Pantheon at Rome is abundantly lighted from an opening which is only
one-fifth of the whole diameter, a much smaller proportion of the whole than is here
suggested. A similar arrangement of the hypasthral portion of the roof is frequently
seen in the sarcophagi of Greece, often made in imitation of temples.