DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.973#0086
78 CATALOGUE OP SCULPTURE.
324. to the under side of the chair. Archaeologists have been
uncertain whether the woman (No. 32) has just placed
the chairs on the heads of the maidens, or is just about
to remove them. There can be little doubt, however, that
No. 31, if we consider the position of her feet, has hardly
ceased approaching to No. 32, who is just raising her
hands to lift down the chair (cf. Flasch, Zum Parthenon-
fries, p. 83). The left hand instinctively prevents the
himation being displaced by the raising of the right arm.
An elderly bearded man (No. 33), wearing a long chiton
with short sleeves and shoes, stands next to No. 32. On
his head are traces of metallic rust. He therefore may
have worn a metallic wreath, for which the marble at the
bach of his head appears to have been hollowed. He
turns his back to No. 32, and is engaged with a boy.
The two figures between them support a large piece of
cloth, folded once lengthwise, and twice breadthwise. In
this case also archaeologists have been doubtful which is
the giver and which is the receiver of the cloth; but
the action represented is not one either of giving or
receiving. From the peculiar way in which the boy
grips an angle of the folded cloth between his elbow and
his side, while his hands are otherwise occupied, the act
of folding the cloth square seems to be represented. The
portion nearest to the spectator is being dropped down
till its edges coincide with those of the lower part.
The group of figures just described (30-34) contains
the centre of the composition, and the interpretation of
the frieze as a whole depends on the meaning we attach
to this group. Leaving on one side the writers referred
to on p. 67, who hold that the frieze does not represent
the Panathenaic festival, we find that the older writers
describe No. 32 as a Priestess of Athene, giving the sacred
vessels to the Arrhephori or Ersephori, and No. 33 as a
priest or Archon Basileus receiving or giving the sacred
324. to the under side of the chair. Archaeologists have been
uncertain whether the woman (No. 32) has just placed
the chairs on the heads of the maidens, or is just about
to remove them. There can be little doubt, however, that
No. 31, if we consider the position of her feet, has hardly
ceased approaching to No. 32, who is just raising her
hands to lift down the chair (cf. Flasch, Zum Parthenon-
fries, p. 83). The left hand instinctively prevents the
himation being displaced by the raising of the right arm.
An elderly bearded man (No. 33), wearing a long chiton
with short sleeves and shoes, stands next to No. 32. On
his head are traces of metallic rust. He therefore may
have worn a metallic wreath, for which the marble at the
bach of his head appears to have been hollowed. He
turns his back to No. 32, and is engaged with a boy.
The two figures between them support a large piece of
cloth, folded once lengthwise, and twice breadthwise. In
this case also archaeologists have been doubtful which is
the giver and which is the receiver of the cloth; but
the action represented is not one either of giving or
receiving. From the peculiar way in which the boy
grips an angle of the folded cloth between his elbow and
his side, while his hands are otherwise occupied, the act
of folding the cloth square seems to be represented. The
portion nearest to the spectator is being dropped down
till its edges coincide with those of the lower part.
The group of figures just described (30-34) contains
the centre of the composition, and the interpretation of
the frieze as a whole depends on the meaning we attach
to this group. Leaving on one side the writers referred
to on p. 67, who hold that the frieze does not represent
the Panathenaic festival, we find that the older writers
describe No. 32 as a Priestess of Athene, giving the sacred
vessels to the Arrhephori or Ersephori, and No. 33 as a
priest or Archon Basileus receiving or giving the sacred