Parthenon. West pediment. Fragments of horses

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 882

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Reconstructed chariot: 2.79 x 1.78 m
Horse's head: 0.42 x 0.54 m
Fragments of horse's legs: 0.215 x 0.122 x 0.16 m and 0.435 x 0.142 x 0.15 m and 0.48 x 0.295 x 0.228 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Fragments from Athena's two chariot horses. Parts of a head, one leg and two hooves are preserved. The leg and the hooves are considered to have belonged to the inner chariot horse whereas the head most possibly belongs to the outer horse. The leg comes from the animal’s left hind thigh and the hooves from its forelegs which were raised above the ground. The back side of one of the hooves is flat and smoothly worked so that it could fit in the pediment's tympanum.

The chariot was placed to the right of the goddess. The outer horse’s body was supported by the torso of a Triton (Ακρ. 879) that may have been an evocation to the flood provoked by Poseidon after he was defeated by Athena.

In 1687, after the siege of the Acropolis by the Venetians, their general Francesco Morosini tried to remove Athena’s chariot along with its horses from the pediment. The rope with which the sculptures were tied was cut and the statues fell on the ground and broke into pieces. The fragments remained in front of the west pediment until 1835 when they were retrieved during the excavations conducted at the time.

The west pediment of the Parthenon portrays the dispute between Athena and Poseidon regarding who would become the divine protector of Athens. The contest was held on the Acropolis in the presence of the city’s mythical kings Kekrops and Erechtheus and other local heroes, who as judges decided the outcome in favour of Athena, preferring her gift, the olive tree, to the salty water offered by Poseidon. The centre of the scene is occupied by the two protagonists and their chariots whereas the pediments' corners contain the personifications of two rivers that flowed in ancient Athens, Ilissos and Kephissos. Due to the misadventures suffered by the monument over the following centuries many sculptures have been lost, some survive in mutilated form whereas others are represented only in small fragments.

The two Parthenon pediments are adorned with about fifty oversized statues. The sculptures, perfectly worked even on their unseen, rear sides, present scenes from the myths of the goddess Athena.

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