DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.973#0084
76 CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURE.
324. The left ankle rests on a staff or spear to assist the
balance.
27-29. (Plate VIII.) The bearded figure (No. 29) on the left of V.
the central group is distingiiished from the rest by the form
and ornaments of his chair, which has a back and a side rail
supported by a winged Sphinx, while all the other figures
are seated on stools. It has been generally admitted that
this deity is Zeus. It is therefore reasonable to suppose
that the goddess seated next to him (No. 28) is his consort,
Hera. The type and action of this figure, who raises her
veil with both hands and looks towards Zeus, are very
suitable to her.
The winged maidenly figure (No. 27) standing behind
Hera must be either Nike or Iris, and is probably Iris,
whose station is close to Hera, while Nike is usually more
closely associated with Zeus (Murray, Glass. Bev. iii.,
p. 285). The head of Iris, which was discovered in 1889
in the excavations on the Acropolis, is admirably perfect.
The left hand raises a mass of the hair as if to coil it on
the head.
The slab to which the head belongs was removed from
its original position at some early time, probably at the
conversion of the Parthenon into a church, when an apse
was built at the eastern end. In 1672 it stood on the
ground (of. Michaelis, pp. 47, 258), and the faces seem
to have suffered deliberate mutilation.
The exquisite preservation of the head of Iris is
explained if, as is suggested, it was broken off in the
sixth century, and immediately built into a Byzantine
wall (Waldstein, American Journ. of Archeeology, v. pi. 2,
p.l).
30-34. Between the group of Gods just described and the
corresponding group on the right side of the centre, we
have a group of five figures.
We must suppose that these figures are in front of the
324. The left ankle rests on a staff or spear to assist the
balance.
27-29. (Plate VIII.) The bearded figure (No. 29) on the left of V.
the central group is distingiiished from the rest by the form
and ornaments of his chair, which has a back and a side rail
supported by a winged Sphinx, while all the other figures
are seated on stools. It has been generally admitted that
this deity is Zeus. It is therefore reasonable to suppose
that the goddess seated next to him (No. 28) is his consort,
Hera. The type and action of this figure, who raises her
veil with both hands and looks towards Zeus, are very
suitable to her.
The winged maidenly figure (No. 27) standing behind
Hera must be either Nike or Iris, and is probably Iris,
whose station is close to Hera, while Nike is usually more
closely associated with Zeus (Murray, Glass. Bev. iii.,
p. 285). The head of Iris, which was discovered in 1889
in the excavations on the Acropolis, is admirably perfect.
The left hand raises a mass of the hair as if to coil it on
the head.
The slab to which the head belongs was removed from
its original position at some early time, probably at the
conversion of the Parthenon into a church, when an apse
was built at the eastern end. In 1672 it stood on the
ground (of. Michaelis, pp. 47, 258), and the faces seem
to have suffered deliberate mutilation.
The exquisite preservation of the head of Iris is
explained if, as is suggested, it was broken off in the
sixth century, and immediately built into a Byzantine
wall (Waldstein, American Journ. of Archeeology, v. pi. 2,
p.l).
30-34. Between the group of Gods just described and the
corresponding group on the right side of the centre, we
have a group of five figures.
We must suppose that these figures are in front of the