DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0404
370 THE AGE OF PHEIDIAS AND OF POLYCLEITOS.
original in the British Museum, surrounding an iron support. Thus the six
glorious maidens once more appear, bearing aloft the light architrave of the
temple-porch (Fig. 165). They doubtless echo to us the idea embodied in the
Athenian girls chosen to bear baskets containing sacrificial utensils in the sacred
procession. The strength and grace of youth mark their erect attitude in
the support of the basket-like capital, and are seen to the best advantage in the
single figure (Selections, Plate VII.). The shoulders are thrown back, one limb
is slightly bended, and the other planted firmly on the ground. The massive
build of the shoulders, the widely expanded breasts, high on the chest, are
marked peculiarities in the rendering of the female form during this age.
They are clearly remnants of the conventional archaism of earlier times, in
which these features are unnaturally pronounced; in later art, as in the Venus
of Melos, such robust and vigorous forms give place to a more natural, a softer
and more melting, beauty. A full chiton, with a short diploidioti, drops over the
shoulders, echoing the form of the expanded bosom. At the waist the cliiton is
caught up so as to make a graceful puff, and thence falls in broad surfaces over
the unfreighted limb, and in deep furrows over the other, suggesting by lines
of light and quiet shadow a fluted column. The uncovered arms and neck form
a beautiful contrast to the channelled and ruffled drapery. One hand seems to
have caught up the lower end of the mantle falling from the shoulder down
the back, but the other appears to have hung quietly at the side. The very
arrangement of the hair enhances the impression of easy bearing. The regular
lines of a braid rise from the brow, interrupting the wavy locks on each side ;
and on the top of the head are coiled two heavy braids, on which rests the
basket-shaped capital. The introduction of coils and basket gives an impres-
sion of ease which would have been wanting had the ponderous architrave rested
directly on the girlish heads. Rich tresses fall down the back, caught together
a part of the way down in a ring; while stray curls drop forward over the
shoulder in lines that give solidity to the dignified pose of the head. Let us
note the beautiful build of the faces of these maidens, especially of the one
in the British Museum (Selections, Plate VII.). In the shape of the graceful
forehead, and treatment of the closely waving hair, we shall find a general
resemblance to the beautiful head of the Aphrodite of the Berlin Museum
(Plate II.), described above, and a noble sample of the treatment of the female
face in Attic art at this time.
In these maidens we have the first known case in Greek sculpture where
the human form fully supplants a member of the architecture ; but how success-
fully this is accomplished without detriment to the real character, either of the
statue or of the building! The Greeks have taught us of what prime impor-
tance for the highest architectural harmony it is that every member should
not only actually perform its office, but also appear to accomplish it, and that
with ease and grace. Thus, here capital and column are formed with a subtle
original in the British Museum, surrounding an iron support. Thus the six
glorious maidens once more appear, bearing aloft the light architrave of the
temple-porch (Fig. 165). They doubtless echo to us the idea embodied in the
Athenian girls chosen to bear baskets containing sacrificial utensils in the sacred
procession. The strength and grace of youth mark their erect attitude in
the support of the basket-like capital, and are seen to the best advantage in the
single figure (Selections, Plate VII.). The shoulders are thrown back, one limb
is slightly bended, and the other planted firmly on the ground. The massive
build of the shoulders, the widely expanded breasts, high on the chest, are
marked peculiarities in the rendering of the female form during this age.
They are clearly remnants of the conventional archaism of earlier times, in
which these features are unnaturally pronounced; in later art, as in the Venus
of Melos, such robust and vigorous forms give place to a more natural, a softer
and more melting, beauty. A full chiton, with a short diploidioti, drops over the
shoulders, echoing the form of the expanded bosom. At the waist the cliiton is
caught up so as to make a graceful puff, and thence falls in broad surfaces over
the unfreighted limb, and in deep furrows over the other, suggesting by lines
of light and quiet shadow a fluted column. The uncovered arms and neck form
a beautiful contrast to the channelled and ruffled drapery. One hand seems to
have caught up the lower end of the mantle falling from the shoulder down
the back, but the other appears to have hung quietly at the side. The very
arrangement of the hair enhances the impression of easy bearing. The regular
lines of a braid rise from the brow, interrupting the wavy locks on each side ;
and on the top of the head are coiled two heavy braids, on which rests the
basket-shaped capital. The introduction of coils and basket gives an impres-
sion of ease which would have been wanting had the ponderous architrave rested
directly on the girlish heads. Rich tresses fall down the back, caught together
a part of the way down in a ring; while stray curls drop forward over the
shoulder in lines that give solidity to the dignified pose of the head. Let us
note the beautiful build of the faces of these maidens, especially of the one
in the British Museum (Selections, Plate VII.). In the shape of the graceful
forehead, and treatment of the closely waving hair, we shall find a general
resemblance to the beautiful head of the Aphrodite of the Berlin Museum
(Plate II.), described above, and a noble sample of the treatment of the female
face in Attic art at this time.
In these maidens we have the first known case in Greek sculpture where
the human form fully supplants a member of the architecture ; but how success-
fully this is accomplished without detriment to the real character, either of the
statue or of the building! The Greeks have taught us of what prime impor-
tance for the highest architectural harmony it is that every member should
not only actually perform its office, but also appear to accomplish it, and that
with ease and grace. Thus, here capital and column are formed with a subtle