DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0141
viii SCULPTURE: MATERIAL, SPACE, COLOURING 121
the artist has liberty only in certain directions, and must not
violate the laws of rhythm. The opposite (eastern) pediment
is composed on similar lines. The subject is the preparations
of Oenomaus and Pelops for the chariot race which was to de-
cide the future of Peloponnesus. Zeus is in the midst, invisible
like Apollo on the opposite pediment. On one side of him are
Oenomaus and his wife Sterope, on the other side Pelops and
his destined bride Hippodameia. The chariots of the two com-
petitors with their attendants come next; the river-gods
Cladeus and Alpheus recline in the angles. Here the action
moves not from the middle to the angles, but from the angles to
X
' —l"—
/ i
* i
* i
\ ■—
A D E F G H B
Fig. 25.
the middle; it is centripetal, not centrifugal. But the whole
falls into groups as readily as does the Centaur pediment.
Zeus, the competitors, the chariots, the river-gods, make in all
seven groups. The rhythm here runs 1 4 2 1 2 4 1; and side
balances side accurately. The lines of gravity here also meet
at a point above Zeus.
And in addition to the order in the separate pediments, we
have a correspondence between one and the other, especially as
regards the apex and the corners; only that in one pediment
we have parade-like repose, in the other strained action. To
modern critics of art the pediments of Olympia have been a
great disappointment — and certainly they have not the finish
and the charm of those of the Parthenon — but we must re-
member that they were meant to be looked at from a distance,
the artist has liberty only in certain directions, and must not
violate the laws of rhythm. The opposite (eastern) pediment
is composed on similar lines. The subject is the preparations
of Oenomaus and Pelops for the chariot race which was to de-
cide the future of Peloponnesus. Zeus is in the midst, invisible
like Apollo on the opposite pediment. On one side of him are
Oenomaus and his wife Sterope, on the other side Pelops and
his destined bride Hippodameia. The chariots of the two com-
petitors with their attendants come next; the river-gods
Cladeus and Alpheus recline in the angles. Here the action
moves not from the middle to the angles, but from the angles to
X
' —l"—
/ i
* i
* i
\ ■—
A D E F G H B
Fig. 25.
the middle; it is centripetal, not centrifugal. But the whole
falls into groups as readily as does the Centaur pediment.
Zeus, the competitors, the chariots, the river-gods, make in all
seven groups. The rhythm here runs 1 4 2 1 2 4 1; and side
balances side accurately. The lines of gravity here also meet
at a point above Zeus.
And in addition to the order in the separate pediments, we
have a correspondence between one and the other, especially as
regards the apex and the corners; only that in one pediment
we have parade-like repose, in the other strained action. To
modern critics of art the pediments of Olympia have been a
great disappointment — and certainly they have not the finish
and the charm of those of the Parthenon — but we must re-
member that they were meant to be looked at from a distance,