Parthenon. West pediment. Fragments of horses

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 883

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Reconstructed chariot: 2.59 x 3.36 m
Height: inner horse's head 0.44 m
Fragments of the inner horse's back right leg: 0.94 x 0.58 m and 0.345 x 0.385 x 0.235 m
Fragments of the inner horse's front right leg: 0.312 x 0.24 x 0.102 m and 0.43 x 0.163 x 0.83 m and 0.167 x 0.11 x 0.12 m
Body fragments of the outer horse: 0.81 x 0.785 m and 0.288 x 0.28 m
Fragment of the outer horse's back left leg: 0.44 x 0.21 x 0.16 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Fragments from the two horses that pulled Poseidon's chariot. They come from the inner horse’s head and right legs as shows their one flat and smoothly worked side that enabled their placing into the tympanum of the pediment. From the outer horse fragments from the body, the rumps and the left hind leg are preserved. It seems that the animal had its forelegs in the air and its body was supported by a Triton (Ακρ. 965) that may have been an evocation to the flood provoked by Poseidon after he was defeated by Athena.

The chariot occupied a big portion of the pediment’s right half and it is not certain when it was removed from the monument. It appears to have been detached at some point around the time of the conversion of Parthenon into a Christian Church. It was found in 1835 during the excavations conducted on the Acropolis west of the Parthenon.

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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