DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14144#0308
272
THE SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON.
eighteenth century was still seen on the western pediment, is the more
to be deplored because we have no other means of learning the manner
in which Pheidias represented the female form. In his treatment of
the nude in the male figure he displays, as we have seen, the most
consummate knowledge of the skeleton of the human frame, and the
most exquisite skill in representing the innumerable surfaces of the
body, as they imperceptibly flow and melt into each other, the texture
of the skin, and the position and play of the veins and muscles. As
we look on his wonderful works, we are fully persuaded that we have
a living organism before us, that beneath that smooth elastic sur-
face, all is there—bones, muscles, veins, and nerves.
THE SCULPTURES OF THE PARTHENON.
eighteenth century was still seen on the western pediment, is the more
to be deplored because we have no other means of learning the manner
in which Pheidias represented the female form. In his treatment of
the nude in the male figure he displays, as we have seen, the most
consummate knowledge of the skeleton of the human frame, and the
most exquisite skill in representing the innumerable surfaces of the
body, as they imperceptibly flow and melt into each other, the texture
of the skin, and the position and play of the veins and muscles. As
we look on his wonderful works, we are fully persuaded that we have
a living organism before us, that beneath that smooth elastic sur-
face, all is there—bones, muscles, veins, and nerves.