DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0346
ARTISTIC CHARACTER OF THE ATHENA I'ARTHENOS.
313
in the presence of twenty gods, out of moist clay, by Hephaistos, who gave
her a human voice, and the stature and face of the immortal goddesses. Aphro-
dite threw grace and loveliness about her head. Hermes gave her a modest
bearing and quiet spirit. The Hours and Graces girded her with a golden belt,
and decked her with flowers, making her a charm for gods and men. Athena
taught her skill of hand and cunning workmanship,—the traditional source of
the skill and taste of Athenian women. Of this scene and its figures, only
the rudest possible trace remains in a tiny marble copy of the Parthenos found
Fig. 146. Copy of the Outside of the Shield of Athena Parthenos. British Museum.
on the so-called Pnyx, and of which casts maybe seen in nearly every museum :
it is possible that a part of this scene is also represented in the graceful figures
on the pedestal of the Pergamon colossus in Berlin.
The impression which we receive concerning the great original by Pheidias
is, that it must have combined richness of significant detail with a grand sim-
plicity, bordering on severity, in the composition. The massive breadth of the
shoulders, length of the torso, and narrowness of the hips, are in strong con-
trast to the lithe and swelling curves of later times, as seen, for instance, in the
Athena on the Great Pergamon Altar (Selections, Plate XV.). But the god-
dess does not, as in older figures, stand firmly on both feet; for the left leg is
bent. This unfreighted leg is not, however, drawn easily back, but simply to
313
in the presence of twenty gods, out of moist clay, by Hephaistos, who gave
her a human voice, and the stature and face of the immortal goddesses. Aphro-
dite threw grace and loveliness about her head. Hermes gave her a modest
bearing and quiet spirit. The Hours and Graces girded her with a golden belt,
and decked her with flowers, making her a charm for gods and men. Athena
taught her skill of hand and cunning workmanship,—the traditional source of
the skill and taste of Athenian women. Of this scene and its figures, only
the rudest possible trace remains in a tiny marble copy of the Parthenos found
Fig. 146. Copy of the Outside of the Shield of Athena Parthenos. British Museum.
on the so-called Pnyx, and of which casts maybe seen in nearly every museum :
it is possible that a part of this scene is also represented in the graceful figures
on the pedestal of the Pergamon colossus in Berlin.
The impression which we receive concerning the great original by Pheidias
is, that it must have combined richness of significant detail with a grand sim-
plicity, bordering on severity, in the composition. The massive breadth of the
shoulders, length of the torso, and narrowness of the hips, are in strong con-
trast to the lithe and swelling curves of later times, as seen, for instance, in the
Athena on the Great Pergamon Altar (Selections, Plate XV.). But the god-
dess does not, as in older figures, stand firmly on both feet; for the left leg is
bent. This unfreighted leg is not, however, drawn easily back, but simply to