DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0300
WEST-PEDIMENT SCULPTURES, OLYMPIA.
267
part of this figure in the centre of the pedimental group appears on a larger
scale in Fig. 127. This impassive form, corresponding to the Zeus of the east
pediment, cannot be Peirithoos, the insulted bridegroom, who would naturally
join in the melee of battle. It must be a god, present but unseen, whose
beardless face and youthful form tell us that it is Apollo, the head of these con-
tending forces ; his commanding quiet contrasting strongly with their tumul-
tuous, exaggerated action around him. His colossal head is impressive in its
severity: almond-shaped eyes, a pronounced chin, and very regular curls around
the brow, unite to form a whole which calls to mind the stern types of youth-
ful faces on the earliest red-figured vases, such as those by Hieron, Euphronios,
and others.469 In the subtile Parian marble his form seems vigorous, and full of
bold surfaces, but loses much of its
peculiar attraction in the cast. One
of the fragments of his drapery, fallen
so as not to suffer exposure, was found
colored a brilliant red.
On each side of this towering god,
not single figures meet us, loosely ar-
ranged in epic simplicity, as in the
^Egina pediments, but groups of two
and three most intricately interlaced,
and full of dramatic fire, still, how-
ever, expressed with exaggeration.
First we see, on each side, a group
of three, — a centaur, a struggling
woman, and a warring hero. Perhaps
the centaur over which the god
stretches his hand is Eurytion carry-
ing off Deidameia, who with all her
might pushes off her foe. One hand
is put against his forehead, and the other against his beastly face. The hero
coming to her aid, and perhaps her husband, Peirithoos, has hair bound up in
festive style, and drapery falling off in his excited action. In the group on
the opposite side of the god, and figure for figure corresponding to this one,
but in detail well varied from it, much of the struggling victim is preserved,
who expresses her distress and shame as she tries to free herself from the
centaur grasping her breast. The upper part of this agitated figure is repre-
sented in Fig. 129; and her expressive face in phototype, in the Selections,
Plate I., where the stern build of the face, in all its archaic severity, as it looks
straight forward, appears to good advantage, as well as the bands bound about
the hair. By a slight bend of this head, however, speaking shadows are cast
into it, and the expression of trouble comes into the eyes and mouth. The
Fig 128. Apollo from the West Pediment. Olympia.
267
part of this figure in the centre of the pedimental group appears on a larger
scale in Fig. 127. This impassive form, corresponding to the Zeus of the east
pediment, cannot be Peirithoos, the insulted bridegroom, who would naturally
join in the melee of battle. It must be a god, present but unseen, whose
beardless face and youthful form tell us that it is Apollo, the head of these con-
tending forces ; his commanding quiet contrasting strongly with their tumul-
tuous, exaggerated action around him. His colossal head is impressive in its
severity: almond-shaped eyes, a pronounced chin, and very regular curls around
the brow, unite to form a whole which calls to mind the stern types of youth-
ful faces on the earliest red-figured vases, such as those by Hieron, Euphronios,
and others.469 In the subtile Parian marble his form seems vigorous, and full of
bold surfaces, but loses much of its
peculiar attraction in the cast. One
of the fragments of his drapery, fallen
so as not to suffer exposure, was found
colored a brilliant red.
On each side of this towering god,
not single figures meet us, loosely ar-
ranged in epic simplicity, as in the
^Egina pediments, but groups of two
and three most intricately interlaced,
and full of dramatic fire, still, how-
ever, expressed with exaggeration.
First we see, on each side, a group
of three, — a centaur, a struggling
woman, and a warring hero. Perhaps
the centaur over which the god
stretches his hand is Eurytion carry-
ing off Deidameia, who with all her
might pushes off her foe. One hand
is put against his forehead, and the other against his beastly face. The hero
coming to her aid, and perhaps her husband, Peirithoos, has hair bound up in
festive style, and drapery falling off in his excited action. In the group on
the opposite side of the god, and figure for figure corresponding to this one,
but in detail well varied from it, much of the struggling victim is preserved,
who expresses her distress and shame as she tries to free herself from the
centaur grasping her breast. The upper part of this agitated figure is repre-
sented in Fig. 129; and her expressive face in phototype, in the Selections,
Plate I., where the stern build of the face, in all its archaic severity, as it looks
straight forward, appears to good advantage, as well as the bands bound about
the hair. By a slight bend of this head, however, speaking shadows are cast
into it, and the expression of trouble comes into the eyes and mouth. The
Fig 128. Apollo from the West Pediment. Olympia.