Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/263

Rh PHEIDIAS. with the hammer (a^vpriKaTos). Its thicknpss was not above a line ; and, as already stated, all the gold upon the statue was so affixed to it as to be removable at pleasure. (See Thuc. ii. 13, and the commen- tators.) The eyes, according to Plato (/. c), were of a kind of marble, nearly resembling ivory, per- haps painted to imitate the iris and pupil ; there is no sufficient authority for the statement which is frequently made, that they were of precious stones. It is doubtful whether the core of the statue was of wood or of stone. The various portions of the statue were most elaborately ornamented. A sphinx formed the crest of her helmet, and on either side of it were gryphons, all, no doubt, of gold. The aegis was fringed with golden serpents, and in its centre was a golden head of Medusa, which, however, was stolen by Philorgus (Isocr. adv. Callim. 22 ; Bockh, Corp. Inscr. vol. i. p. 242), and was replaced with one of ivory, which Pausanias saw. The lower end of the spear was supported by a dragon, sup- posed by Pausanias to represent Erich thonius, and the juncture between the shaft and head was formed of a sphinx in bronze. Even the edges of the sandals, which were four dadyli high, were seen, on close inspection, to be engraved with the battle of the Lapithae and Centaurs. The shield was ornamented on both sides with embossed work, representing, on the inner side, the battle of the giants against the gods, and on the outer, the battle of the Amazons against the Athenians. All these subjects were native Athenian legends. The base, which of itself is said to have been the work of several months, represented, in relief, the birth of Pandora, and her receiving gifts from the gods : it contained figures of twenty divinities. The weight of the gold upon the statue, which, as above stated, was removable at pleasure, is said by Thucydides to have been 40 talents (ii. 13), by Philochorus 44, and by other writers 50 : probably the statement of Philochorus is exact, the others being round numbers. (See Wesseling, ad Diod. Sic. xii. 40.) Great attention was paid to the preservation of the statue : and it was fre- quently sprinkled with water, to preserve it from being injured by the dryness of the atmosphere. CPaus. V. 11. § 5.) The base was repaired by Aristocles the younger, about B. c. 397 (Bockh, Corp. Inscr. vol. i. p. 237 : Bockh suggests that, as Aristocles was the son of Cleoetas, who appears to have been an assistant of Pheidias in his great works, this artist's family may have been the guardians of the statue, as the descendants of Pheidias himself were of tlie Zeus at Olympia.) The statue was finally robbed of its gold by La- chares, in the time of Demetrius Poliorcetes, about B. c. 296. (Pans i. 25, § 7.) Pausanias, however, speaks of the statue as if the gold were still upon it ; possibly the plundered gold may have been replaced by gilding. We possess numerous statues of Athena, most of which are no doubt imitated irom that in the Parthenon, and from the two other statues in the Acropolis. Bottiger has en- deavoured to distinguish the existing copies of these three great works (Andeutungen, pp. 90 — 92). That Avhich is believed to be the nearest copy of the Athena of the Parthenon is a marble statue in the collection of Mr. Hope, which is engraved in the Specimens of Ancient Sculpture, vol. ii. pi. 9, and in Miiiler's Denhn'dler, vol.ii. pi. xix. fig. 202. A less perfect, but precisely similar copy, stood in the Villa Albani. Copies also appear on the re- PHEIDIAS. 251 verses of coins of the Antiochi, engraved in this work (vol. i. p. 19J)). These copies agree in every respect, except in the position of the left hand, and of the spear and shield. In Mr. Hope's statue the left hand is raised as high as the head, and holds the spear as a sceptre, the shield being alto- gether wanting : on the medals, the left hand rests upon the shield, which stands upon the ground, leaning against the left leg of the statue, while the spear leans slightly backwards, supported by the left arm. An attempt has been made at a restora- tion of the statue by Quatremere de Quincy in his Jupiter Olympien, and a more successful one by Mr. Lucas in his model of the Parthenon. (See also Flaxman's Lectu7'es on Sculpture., pi. 19.) The statue is described at length by Pausanias (i. 24), by Maximus Tyrius (Dissert, xiv.), and by Pliny (H.N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. § 1, xxxvi. 5. s. 4. § 4). One of the best modern descriptions is that of Bot- tiger (Andeutungen, pp. 86 — 93). It is also well described in The Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles (vol. i. pp. 136, 137). The other sculptures of the Parthenon belong less properly to our subject, since it is impossible to say which of them were executed by the hand of Pheidias, though it cannot be doubted that they were all made under his superintendence. It is, moreover, almost superfluous to describe them at any length, inasmuch as a large portion of them form, under the name of the " Elgin Marbles," the choicest treasure of our national Museum, where their study is now greatly facilitated by the ad- mirable model of the Parthenon by Mr. Lucas. There are also ample descriptions of them, easily accessible ; for example, the work entitled The Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles.* It is, therefore, suffi- cient to state briefly the following particulars. The outside of the wall of the cella was surrounded by a frieze, representing the Panathenaic procession in very low relief, a form admirably adapted to a position where the light was imperfect, and chiefly reflected, and where the angle of view was neces- sarily large. The metopes, or spaces between the triglyphs of the frieze of the peristyle, were filled with sculptures in very high relief, ninety-two in number, fourteen on each front, and thirty-two on each side ; the subjects were taken from the le- gendary history of Athens. Those on the south side, of which we possess fifteen in the British Museum, represent the battle between the Athe- nians and Centaurs at the marriage feast of Peiri- thoiis. Some of them are strikingly archaic in their style ; thus confirming our previous argument, that the archaic style continued quite down to the time of Pheidias, who may be supposed, on the evidence of these sculptures, to have employed some of the best of the artists of that school, to assist himself and his disciples. Others of the metopes display that pure and perfect art, which Pheidias him- self introduced, and which has never been sur- passed. The architrave of the temple was adorned with golden shields beneath the metopes, which were carried off, with the gold of the statue of the works, we may mention the authorised publication of the Marbles of ilie British Museum, the en- gravings in Miiiler's Denhndler der Alien Kunst, and in the plates to Meyer's Kunstgeschichte. The miniature restorations in plaster by Mr. Hennings also deserve attention.
 * Among the numerous other copies of these