Start of North Frieze
Detail of the north frieze of the Parthenon as displayed in the Duveen gallery at the British Museum. The first third of the frieze showing horses and riders is the best preserved surviving section and of superb quality.
The famous frieze of the Parthenon was the most ambitious ever conceived, forming a continuous strip of sculpted relief narrative around the perimeter of the inner part (cella) of the temple. It was thus the least easily seen, being set high within the collonnade and originally richly coloured to increase legibility from such a distant, shadowy position.
All four sides constituted a single continuous subject, the Panathenaic Procession, held every four years in honour of the Temple and city's patron Goddess Athena. It begins on the west side with various riders making preparation, then runs eastwards along bothe the long sides, north and south, before culminating in a group of seated deites on the east side (above the former main entrance). The procession is largely made up horses and riders in front of which are/were chariots, musicians, offering bearers and sacrificial animals (all of these latter groups suffered most in the explosion of 1687).
The frieze remained almost complete and in good condition for Jacques Carrey to draw most of it in 1674. Only thirteen years later disaster struck when the Pathenon was blown apart by the Turkish gunpowder store within hit by a Venetian shell. The inner part of the temple was mostly demolished, leaving most of the frieze prone at ground level, where much was lost to souvenir hunters, lime burners and casual vandalism before Elgin's team arrived.
Those sculptures that survived the explosion of 1687 were mostly removed by Lord Elgin's agents in the 1800s and sent to London where they currently remain. However he had to leave most of the west frieze in situ on the Parthenon where they remained until the late 1990s. Casts taken by Elgin's team show the west frieze has suffered damage from weathering and air pollution. It has now been restored for display in the new Acropolis Museum in Athens. Significant sections of the north, east and south friezes also remain in Athens.
The sculptures of the Parthenon (pediments, metopes and frieze)remain generally recognised as the most accomplished (both in terms of technical mastery and beauty of design) scheme of architectural sculpture ever realised. That so much of it has been lost (particulaly as the building remained substantially intact and in use continuously until 1687) is a tragedy, judging by what remains.
Start of North Frieze
Detail of the north frieze of the Parthenon as displayed in the Duveen gallery at the British Museum. The first third of the frieze showing horses and riders is the best preserved surviving section and of superb quality.
The famous frieze of the Parthenon was the most ambitious ever conceived, forming a continuous strip of sculpted relief narrative around the perimeter of the inner part (cella) of the temple. It was thus the least easily seen, being set high within the collonnade and originally richly coloured to increase legibility from such a distant, shadowy position.
All four sides constituted a single continuous subject, the Panathenaic Procession, held every four years in honour of the Temple and city's patron Goddess Athena. It begins on the west side with various riders making preparation, then runs eastwards along bothe the long sides, north and south, before culminating in a group of seated deites on the east side (above the former main entrance). The procession is largely made up horses and riders in front of which are/were chariots, musicians, offering bearers and sacrificial animals (all of these latter groups suffered most in the explosion of 1687).
The frieze remained almost complete and in good condition for Jacques Carrey to draw most of it in 1674. Only thirteen years later disaster struck when the Pathenon was blown apart by the Turkish gunpowder store within hit by a Venetian shell. The inner part of the temple was mostly demolished, leaving most of the frieze prone at ground level, where much was lost to souvenir hunters, lime burners and casual vandalism before Elgin's team arrived.
Those sculptures that survived the explosion of 1687 were mostly removed by Lord Elgin's agents in the 1800s and sent to London where they currently remain. However he had to leave most of the west frieze in situ on the Parthenon where they remained until the late 1990s. Casts taken by Elgin's team show the west frieze has suffered damage from weathering and air pollution. It has now been restored for display in the new Acropolis Museum in Athens. Significant sections of the north, east and south friezes also remain in Athens.
The sculptures of the Parthenon (pediments, metopes and frieze)remain generally recognised as the most accomplished (both in terms of technical mastery and beauty of design) scheme of architectural sculpture ever realised. That so much of it has been lost (particulaly as the building remained substantially intact and in use continuously until 1687) is a tragedy, judging by what remains.