DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0195
ARCHITECTURAL STATUARY
145
This is due to the fact, mentioned above, that a large proportion of such single statues
were of bronze, which were the first to be carried off, and, furthermore, to the fact that
statues which stood below, on the level of the terrace, were more readily destroyed and
taken away by the iconoclast and despoiler than those which ornamented metopes or pedi-
ments of a high building. We remember, for instance, what difficulties the Venetians,
and later Lord Elgin, had in lowering statues from the Parthenon. At the Heraeum
such statues could be procured only after the building had fallen in, and then had to be
extracted laboriously from beneath the debris of the ruined building.
Undoubtedly this was the fate of this ancient sanctuary of Hera. From its lofty posi-
tion on the slopes of the hills, it commanded the vast plain of Argos. But at the same
time this glorious group of resplendent buildings had to pay, as it were, the penalty of
its serene position and of the attractive beauty of its shrine gleaming through the limpid
atmosphere of Hellas to the furthest confines of the mountain-encircled plain. There was
no point from which it could not be seen. And thus the Byzantines, Franks or Normans,
Slavs or Albanians, Venetians, Turks and modern Greek peasants, passing through or
settling in any part of the plain, made the Heraeum their stone quarry and — their lime-
kiln.1 The " Larisa " or mediaeval citadel of the town of Argos, the Palamidi of Nauplia,
and, nearer home, the Byzantine and Frankish churches of the neighboring villages,
Chonica, Merbaka, Anyphi, Priphtani, Pasia, as also the well-stones, lintels, and thresh-
olds of the peasants' houses, all made heavy drafts upon the ruined Heraeum for their
building material.
To this must be added as an important fact (to account for the comparatively small
remains of extant architectural sculpture), that in the manufacture of the great amount
of excellent mortar used by these later builders, the lime produced by the burning of
marble was preferred to all other, and that thus marble sculpture of all kinds was espe-
cially sought after.
What was not carried away or destroyed by the hand of man was undone by nature.
The buildings that were not actually pulled down were shaken down by earthquakes,2 and
the remains of sculpture lying about the ground and beneath the debris of the buildings
were either carried off by the despoiler, or further mutilated by the iconoclastic hordes
passing through or dwelling in the Argive plain, because they represented Pagan
religion. The great height from which the sculptures of pediment or entablature fell to
the ground caused the thinner and more undercut portions, extremities of bodies and
drapery, to break off most freely. It was not worth the barbarian's while to transport
these smaller fragments to his lime-kiln or to use them as building stones; thus the
larger portable masses of marble — torsi, larger heads, etc. — were first chosen by him,
and, if too large, they were split or cut into portable larger fragments.
We can thus understand why the excavations yielded so few specimens of sculpture
besides architectural sculpture, and, furthermore, why there should be found so few
larger or complete specimens of even these works; we can realize also how fortunate are
the accidents that have yielded such fine and representative specimens of important sculp-
ture, for which, under these untoward conditions, we hardly dared hope.
The vast number of smaller pieces, the numerous hands and feet of men and horses,
1 See W. G. Clark, Peloponnesus, p. 84.
2 That there must have been some such destruction,
and that it was probably by earthquakes, is proved by
metope fragments found underneath other heaped-up
fragments from the South Stoa on the pavement of the
latter, the roof having been broken while other portions
of the Stoa stood when the temple fell in.
I
145
This is due to the fact, mentioned above, that a large proportion of such single statues
were of bronze, which were the first to be carried off, and, furthermore, to the fact that
statues which stood below, on the level of the terrace, were more readily destroyed and
taken away by the iconoclast and despoiler than those which ornamented metopes or pedi-
ments of a high building. We remember, for instance, what difficulties the Venetians,
and later Lord Elgin, had in lowering statues from the Parthenon. At the Heraeum
such statues could be procured only after the building had fallen in, and then had to be
extracted laboriously from beneath the debris of the ruined building.
Undoubtedly this was the fate of this ancient sanctuary of Hera. From its lofty posi-
tion on the slopes of the hills, it commanded the vast plain of Argos. But at the same
time this glorious group of resplendent buildings had to pay, as it were, the penalty of
its serene position and of the attractive beauty of its shrine gleaming through the limpid
atmosphere of Hellas to the furthest confines of the mountain-encircled plain. There was
no point from which it could not be seen. And thus the Byzantines, Franks or Normans,
Slavs or Albanians, Venetians, Turks and modern Greek peasants, passing through or
settling in any part of the plain, made the Heraeum their stone quarry and — their lime-
kiln.1 The " Larisa " or mediaeval citadel of the town of Argos, the Palamidi of Nauplia,
and, nearer home, the Byzantine and Frankish churches of the neighboring villages,
Chonica, Merbaka, Anyphi, Priphtani, Pasia, as also the well-stones, lintels, and thresh-
olds of the peasants' houses, all made heavy drafts upon the ruined Heraeum for their
building material.
To this must be added as an important fact (to account for the comparatively small
remains of extant architectural sculpture), that in the manufacture of the great amount
of excellent mortar used by these later builders, the lime produced by the burning of
marble was preferred to all other, and that thus marble sculpture of all kinds was espe-
cially sought after.
What was not carried away or destroyed by the hand of man was undone by nature.
The buildings that were not actually pulled down were shaken down by earthquakes,2 and
the remains of sculpture lying about the ground and beneath the debris of the buildings
were either carried off by the despoiler, or further mutilated by the iconoclastic hordes
passing through or dwelling in the Argive plain, because they represented Pagan
religion. The great height from which the sculptures of pediment or entablature fell to
the ground caused the thinner and more undercut portions, extremities of bodies and
drapery, to break off most freely. It was not worth the barbarian's while to transport
these smaller fragments to his lime-kiln or to use them as building stones; thus the
larger portable masses of marble — torsi, larger heads, etc. — were first chosen by him,
and, if too large, they were split or cut into portable larger fragments.
We can thus understand why the excavations yielded so few specimens of sculpture
besides architectural sculpture, and, furthermore, why there should be found so few
larger or complete specimens of even these works; we can realize also how fortunate are
the accidents that have yielded such fine and representative specimens of important sculp-
ture, for which, under these untoward conditions, we hardly dared hope.
The vast number of smaller pieces, the numerous hands and feet of men and horses,
1 See W. G. Clark, Peloponnesus, p. 84.
2 That there must have been some such destruction,
and that it was probably by earthquakes, is proved by
metope fragments found underneath other heaped-up
fragments from the South Stoa on the pavement of the
latter, the roof having been broken while other portions
of the Stoa stood when the temple fell in.
I