DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0348
ATHENA STATUES BY PHEIDIAS. 315
wrong. From this time on, we find that Pheidias' supremely humane concep-
tion of his goddess supplanted the older, more vengeful one : Attic reliefs, after
his time, always represent the goddess in an attitude of peace, following the
lines of his colossus. 591
Seven times, we learn, did Pheidias, during his long career, represent the
great goddess Athena,—twice in statues of gold and ivory; once for Athens
in the statue just described ; once in earlier days, for Pellene (p. 300); and
three times in bronze. These latter were the Promachos of his youth; the
Athena on the Acropolis, for the people of Lemnos, probably executed about
the time of the Parthenos ; and one taken to Rome by Paulus /Emilius, and
consecrated in the Temple of Fortuna.592 Pheidias' other statues of the god-
dess were the acrolith of wood, marble, and gold, for Plataiai, above described,
besides a statue in rivalry with Alcamenes, as to the material of which we
are not informed.593 It is said that the Athenians, wishing to erect two
statues of Athena in a high place, ordered them of Pheidias and Alcamenes.
Upon their completion, the people at first united in giving the preference to
that by Alcamenes, disapproving of the widely opened lips and distended nos-
trils of Pheidias' work. But when the statues were raised above the level of
the eye, upon their pedestals, opinion suddenly changed in favor of Pheidias'
Athena, which now appeared more correct than that of his rival,—an impres-
sion due, no doubt, to a regard for the laws of perspective and optical effect.
It would be a delightful task to trace with assurance these great originals
in the different types of Athena found in our museums. Of the large Athena
statues, many are marked by such dignity, combined with maiden-like grace,
that it would seem as though Pheidias' great originals had left their abiding
impress on the works of his successors. Of existing Athena statues, none is
more majestic than a colossal statue in Pentelic marble, now in the Fcole des
Beaux Arts at Paris, but originally among the marbles in the Villa Medici in
Rome, and, consequently, popularly called the Minerva Medici (Selections,
Plate II.). Here we see massive shoulders and a firm build, like that, of the
Parthenos ; here the same arrangement of the eegis; while the drapery differs,
being richer in certain details as it falls over the bent right leg. Unfortu-
nately, the head and both arms are wanting; but the quiet attitude, the grand
and simple lines of the form, and exquisite rendering of the drapery, as well
as its undulating border, mark it as a great Greek original of the Pheidian age,
very near of kin to the Parthenon marbles. The contrast between the drapery
of this great figure, combining strength with grace, and the more pictorial
and lax character of Philis' garments, represented in the same plate, is well
brought out by such juxtaposition, and beautifully shows how different the
methods pursued in statuary and in relief, in widely separated parts of the
ancient world. v
Futile were the endeavor to trace back to Pheidias' varied originals, as w"
wrong. From this time on, we find that Pheidias' supremely humane concep-
tion of his goddess supplanted the older, more vengeful one : Attic reliefs, after
his time, always represent the goddess in an attitude of peace, following the
lines of his colossus. 591
Seven times, we learn, did Pheidias, during his long career, represent the
great goddess Athena,—twice in statues of gold and ivory; once for Athens
in the statue just described ; once in earlier days, for Pellene (p. 300); and
three times in bronze. These latter were the Promachos of his youth; the
Athena on the Acropolis, for the people of Lemnos, probably executed about
the time of the Parthenos ; and one taken to Rome by Paulus /Emilius, and
consecrated in the Temple of Fortuna.592 Pheidias' other statues of the god-
dess were the acrolith of wood, marble, and gold, for Plataiai, above described,
besides a statue in rivalry with Alcamenes, as to the material of which we
are not informed.593 It is said that the Athenians, wishing to erect two
statues of Athena in a high place, ordered them of Pheidias and Alcamenes.
Upon their completion, the people at first united in giving the preference to
that by Alcamenes, disapproving of the widely opened lips and distended nos-
trils of Pheidias' work. But when the statues were raised above the level of
the eye, upon their pedestals, opinion suddenly changed in favor of Pheidias'
Athena, which now appeared more correct than that of his rival,—an impres-
sion due, no doubt, to a regard for the laws of perspective and optical effect.
It would be a delightful task to trace with assurance these great originals
in the different types of Athena found in our museums. Of the large Athena
statues, many are marked by such dignity, combined with maiden-like grace,
that it would seem as though Pheidias' great originals had left their abiding
impress on the works of his successors. Of existing Athena statues, none is
more majestic than a colossal statue in Pentelic marble, now in the Fcole des
Beaux Arts at Paris, but originally among the marbles in the Villa Medici in
Rome, and, consequently, popularly called the Minerva Medici (Selections,
Plate II.). Here we see massive shoulders and a firm build, like that, of the
Parthenos ; here the same arrangement of the eegis; while the drapery differs,
being richer in certain details as it falls over the bent right leg. Unfortu-
nately, the head and both arms are wanting; but the quiet attitude, the grand
and simple lines of the form, and exquisite rendering of the drapery, as well
as its undulating border, mark it as a great Greek original of the Pheidian age,
very near of kin to the Parthenon marbles. The contrast between the drapery
of this great figure, combining strength with grace, and the more pictorial
and lax character of Philis' garments, represented in the same plate, is well
brought out by such juxtaposition, and beautifully shows how different the
methods pursued in statuary and in relief, in widely separated parts of the
ancient world. v
Futile were the endeavor to trace back to Pheidias' varied originals, as w"