DOI article:
Essay VI: The Athene from the Parthenon frieze and the Louvre plaque
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11444#0253
VI.] THE ATHENE FROM THE PARTHENON FRIEZE. 223
the marble relief, which characterises the "first state" of a work
as distinguished from the finished production1.
When we consider the actual mode in which the great works
of art were produced during the few peaceful years of the
supremacy of Pericles, a new light is thrown upon the possible
destination of the terra-cotta relief of which the plaque is a
fragment. Within these few years a number of great composi-
tions, which were before enumerated2, among which was the
colossal Athene Parthenos decorated by many figures in relief
and in the round, all of them over life-size, were designed and
executed by Pheidias. It is to these works, important temple-
statues, that Pheidias, in addition to the design, also added the
technical execution or at least gave the finishing touches. Ac-
cording to our modern scale of the working power of an artist,
a single work like the Athene Parthenos would call upon the
time and energy of a sculptor for a period of several years.
Now, besides this, there were all the decorations of the Parthenon
with its ninety-two metopes, its hundreds of figures in relief
in the frieze, its large pedimental compositions. It is incon-
ceivable that Pheidias should have executed with his own hands
all these works, though he may have given the finishing touch
to some of the most important parts. Though the designs
were made by him, the execution was put into the hands of
marble-workers ranking from high-classed artists down to mere
artisans. The occasional discrepancies in the actual execution
of the marble-work in various parts of the frieze, the pediments
and the metopes, is in part to be referred to this fact. This
assumption is fully verified by the ancient authorities. So we
hear from Plutarch3, that a great number of artists and artisans
skilled in marble-work, metal-beating, wood and ivory-carving,
&c. flocked to Athens from all parts of Greece and the colonies,
and were added to the large number of native workmen. These
workmen were free from taxation and all inducements were
offered to the skilled among them. The same writer further
1 It was an interesting confirmation to me when the sculptor Mr Woollier, upon
examining the cast of the Louvre plaque, said that compared with the Athene from
the frieze it had all the characteristics of a " first state."
- See Essay II. p. 67. 3 Vit. Pericl. xn.
the marble relief, which characterises the "first state" of a work
as distinguished from the finished production1.
When we consider the actual mode in which the great works
of art were produced during the few peaceful years of the
supremacy of Pericles, a new light is thrown upon the possible
destination of the terra-cotta relief of which the plaque is a
fragment. Within these few years a number of great composi-
tions, which were before enumerated2, among which was the
colossal Athene Parthenos decorated by many figures in relief
and in the round, all of them over life-size, were designed and
executed by Pheidias. It is to these works, important temple-
statues, that Pheidias, in addition to the design, also added the
technical execution or at least gave the finishing touches. Ac-
cording to our modern scale of the working power of an artist,
a single work like the Athene Parthenos would call upon the
time and energy of a sculptor for a period of several years.
Now, besides this, there were all the decorations of the Parthenon
with its ninety-two metopes, its hundreds of figures in relief
in the frieze, its large pedimental compositions. It is incon-
ceivable that Pheidias should have executed with his own hands
all these works, though he may have given the finishing touch
to some of the most important parts. Though the designs
were made by him, the execution was put into the hands of
marble-workers ranking from high-classed artists down to mere
artisans. The occasional discrepancies in the actual execution
of the marble-work in various parts of the frieze, the pediments
and the metopes, is in part to be referred to this fact. This
assumption is fully verified by the ancient authorities. So we
hear from Plutarch3, that a great number of artists and artisans
skilled in marble-work, metal-beating, wood and ivory-carving,
&c. flocked to Athens from all parts of Greece and the colonies,
and were added to the large number of native workmen. These
workmen were free from taxation and all inducements were
offered to the skilled among them. The same writer further
1 It was an interesting confirmation to me when the sculptor Mr Woollier, upon
examining the cast of the Louvre plaque, said that compared with the Athene from
the frieze it had all the characteristics of a " first state."
- See Essay II. p. 67. 3 Vit. Pericl. xn.