DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0376
340 SCULPTURE OF THE PARTHENON.
metopae of the two fronts are also unintelligible; but it is clear that
Centaurs form no part of the subject. It is a curious fact, that the
grandest remains of Grecian sculpture, not only represent fabulous
events, but imaginary animals, which never could exist, except in
the fantastic ideas of the Greeks. The Centauromachias seem to
have been more multiplied on ancient monuments than any other
Grecian fable ; we still see them on the Parthenon and the Theseion
at Athens, on the temple at Sunium, and on that of Apollo Epi-
kourios in Arcadia.
The positions and the movements of all the figures of the Par-
thenon are not only elegant, but there is not the smallest symptom
of constraint or violence, of any deviation from taste, or any
violation of grace. No less attention has been paid to the beautiful
realities of life, than to the imaginary perfections of that ideal
beauty which exists only in the mind. All the individuals in the
animated mass, are not only occupied, but occupied so as to interest
the beholder. None of the figures are employed merely to fill up :
they all take a part in the busy scene. The drapery is remarkable
for its ethereal tenuity, and its. high-wrought perfection. The
anatomical excellence of the sculpture is not inferior to its other
beauties. The graceful varieties of the human form were never
more accurately exhibited, nor was the mixture of different ages
and sexes ever blended together with more interest, nor contrasted
with more effect.
It is much to be regretted that the finest works of Phidias were
composed of ivory and gold ; the one a perishable material, the
other a metal of too much intrinsic value for permanent preserva-
tion. It is therefore probable, that the most beautiful productions
of his genius owe their destruction more to avarice than to time.
The Chryselephantine statues, particularly those of colossal dimen-
sions, were probably composed of wood within, while the more costly
materials were employed only in the superfices. Pausanias1 mentions
3 B. 1. c. 40.
metopae of the two fronts are also unintelligible; but it is clear that
Centaurs form no part of the subject. It is a curious fact, that the
grandest remains of Grecian sculpture, not only represent fabulous
events, but imaginary animals, which never could exist, except in
the fantastic ideas of the Greeks. The Centauromachias seem to
have been more multiplied on ancient monuments than any other
Grecian fable ; we still see them on the Parthenon and the Theseion
at Athens, on the temple at Sunium, and on that of Apollo Epi-
kourios in Arcadia.
The positions and the movements of all the figures of the Par-
thenon are not only elegant, but there is not the smallest symptom
of constraint or violence, of any deviation from taste, or any
violation of grace. No less attention has been paid to the beautiful
realities of life, than to the imaginary perfections of that ideal
beauty which exists only in the mind. All the individuals in the
animated mass, are not only occupied, but occupied so as to interest
the beholder. None of the figures are employed merely to fill up :
they all take a part in the busy scene. The drapery is remarkable
for its ethereal tenuity, and its. high-wrought perfection. The
anatomical excellence of the sculpture is not inferior to its other
beauties. The graceful varieties of the human form were never
more accurately exhibited, nor was the mixture of different ages
and sexes ever blended together with more interest, nor contrasted
with more effect.
It is much to be regretted that the finest works of Phidias were
composed of ivory and gold ; the one a perishable material, the
other a metal of too much intrinsic value for permanent preserva-
tion. It is therefore probable, that the most beautiful productions
of his genius owe their destruction more to avarice than to time.
The Chryselephantine statues, particularly those of colossal dimen-
sions, were probably composed of wood within, while the more costly
materials were employed only in the superfices. Pausanias1 mentions
3 B. 1. c. 40.