Athena Nike Temple. Parapet. South-west corner slab. Athena and Nike
Inventory number
Ακρ. 974
Artist
Agorakritos' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
Around 410 BC
Dimensions
Height: 1.03 m
Length: 0.505 m
Width: 0.295 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
First Floor, West
Fragments from one of the parapet’s corner slabs of the Temple of Athena Nike. The slab was decorated with relief scenes on its west and south faces. They were found at various locations, mainly on the Acropolis, and at different times. Two parts of the slab have been mended by joining fragments and restored.
On the left part that comes from the south side of the bastion Athena sits on the same rock on which her shield is placed upright. The goddess is draped in a chiton over which she has a himation. Her raised right hand rests elegantly on the shield while she pulls her himation with her fingers. On the other side of this fragment, which belongs to the parapet west side, preserved are parts of a Nike’s left wing and garment. The right part of the slab represents one more winged Nike clad in a thin chiton and himation. She stretches out her arms in order to adorn a trophy now lost. From her two wings remain only one and two projections which facilitated the adjustment of the second wing. A third projection is all that is left after her head was forcibly removed from the relief.The parapet enclosed the three sides of the bastion, on which the temple was built. It consisted of slabs approximately one meter in height whose outer surfaces were decorated with relief scenes visible by those ascending the Acropolis. The holes preserved on the upper surface of these slabs indicate that there was originally a metal railing, which further raised the height of the parapet.
The theme depicted on the parapet is a celebration of the military victories of the Athenians against their enemies, either Persians or other Greeks. The narrative is not continuous; instead it is composed of separate, individual scenes which – with slight variations – recur on each side of the parapet: winged Nikai lead bulls to sacrifice or hold weapons and adorn victory trophies with Greek or Persian armour. Among them sits goddess Athena, resting after victorious battles. The carving of the temple's sculptures was carried out by many different artists under the supervision of Agorakritos. These sculpted figures are highly representative of the end of the 5th cent. BC style called by archaeologists the "Rich Style".
In 1687 the temple and the parapet of Athena Nike were dismantled by the Ottomans and the material was used for the reinforcement of a gun emplacement and the fortification of the west side of the Acropolis against the attacks by the Venetians under the command of the general Francesco Morosini. Between 1835 and 1836 the gun emplacement was demolished and the Temple of Athena Nike was restored for the first time under the supervision of Ludwig Ross, the administrator of antiquities at the time. A second reconstruction was carried out in 1940, while a third was completed in 2010.
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