DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15098#0128
98
The chariot here represented was probably the last in this part
of the procession; the horses are standing still, the attendant or
groom has not yet moved from their heads, the chariot has not yet
started, the warrior has just placed his hand upon the front of the
chariot, but the bent elbow intimates that he is not at present
firm in his position, and the driver, whose head is turned round
towards him, seems to be enquiring whether he is prepared,
and to be waiting for his commands ; close to the head of the
driver may be seen a small portion of the crested helmet of the
warrior; it is evidently the back part, and he must also have been
looking round, attracted by some object, or waiting for some direc-
tion, before he actually springs into his place. He may possibly
be looking for the magistrate or officer, of which rank we have
seen one accompanying each chariot, but whom we do not see
present with the one before us. The person standing at the head
of the horses is evidently not of that rank ; he is not clad in an
ample peplus folded with dignity round his body, but merely in
a short tunic, fastened by a fibula upon the shoulders, and de-
scending to the knees. He is occupied, too, not as one having
authority, marshalling the procession and directing the line of
Lord Elgin for his spoliation of the Parthenon.* These charges will be considered
to come with a peculiarly bad grace from the friend of the Count de Choiseul
Gouffier, to whom Lord Elgin had behaved with singular liberality; especially too
when it is known, that the Count himself removed the first sculpture from the Temple,
and that it alone sustained any injury in the removal. The machinery he first used was
defective, the ropes failed, and the marble was broken to pieces; fresh tackling was then
procured from Toulon, and the removal proceeded successfully. The apparatus left
behind by the Count was subsequently used by Lord Elgin, and no further
damage in any instance occurred. It must not be forgotten, that the greater part of
Lord Elgin's Collection was not taken from its original position on the building, but
from among the ruins which had accumulated around it, and from the walls of the
fortifications, into which many very beautiful pieces had been built.
* See Catalogue d'antiquites, &c. formant la collection de feu M. le Cte. de Choiseul
Gouffier, p. 36.
The chariot here represented was probably the last in this part
of the procession; the horses are standing still, the attendant or
groom has not yet moved from their heads, the chariot has not yet
started, the warrior has just placed his hand upon the front of the
chariot, but the bent elbow intimates that he is not at present
firm in his position, and the driver, whose head is turned round
towards him, seems to be enquiring whether he is prepared,
and to be waiting for his commands ; close to the head of the
driver may be seen a small portion of the crested helmet of the
warrior; it is evidently the back part, and he must also have been
looking round, attracted by some object, or waiting for some direc-
tion, before he actually springs into his place. He may possibly
be looking for the magistrate or officer, of which rank we have
seen one accompanying each chariot, but whom we do not see
present with the one before us. The person standing at the head
of the horses is evidently not of that rank ; he is not clad in an
ample peplus folded with dignity round his body, but merely in
a short tunic, fastened by a fibula upon the shoulders, and de-
scending to the knees. He is occupied, too, not as one having
authority, marshalling the procession and directing the line of
Lord Elgin for his spoliation of the Parthenon.* These charges will be considered
to come with a peculiarly bad grace from the friend of the Count de Choiseul
Gouffier, to whom Lord Elgin had behaved with singular liberality; especially too
when it is known, that the Count himself removed the first sculpture from the Temple,
and that it alone sustained any injury in the removal. The machinery he first used was
defective, the ropes failed, and the marble was broken to pieces; fresh tackling was then
procured from Toulon, and the removal proceeded successfully. The apparatus left
behind by the Count was subsequently used by Lord Elgin, and no further
damage in any instance occurred. It must not be forgotten, that the greater part of
Lord Elgin's Collection was not taken from its original position on the building, but
from among the ruins which had accumulated around it, and from the walls of the
fortifications, into which many very beautiful pieces had been built.
* See Catalogue d'antiquites, &c. formant la collection de feu M. le Cte. de Choiseul
Gouffier, p. 36.