Inventory number
ΜΑ ΑΝΤ. 038
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Modern times
Date
19th cent.
Dimensions
Height: 1.02 m
Length: 1.78 m
Material
Plaster
Location
Parthenon Gallery
Plaster copy of Block ΙI which is exhibited in the British Museum in London. It depicts two riders galloping towards the viewers left. The leading man, rides nude with just a chlamys, secured around the neck with a brooch and billowing behind him. The man raises his left arm perhaps to adjust the metal wreath once fitted in the drills visible on his head. He turns his torso towards the viewer in order to look behind him at his companion that follows. The latter, dressed in a short chiton, cuirass and embades, is tightly holding the reins of his steed that rears up. The reins were made of bronze and fitted into the holes drilled on the horse’s head.
The frieze on the west side of the Parthenon shows the riders preparing to take part in the procession of the Athenian people during the Panathenaic festival, in honour of the protectress of the city, Athena. The procession's destination was the Temple of Athena Polias on the Acropolis. Its purpose was the transportation of the Panathenaic peplos destined to adorn the age-old xoanon of the goddess and the offer of a grand sacrifice of animals at the Great Altar outside of the temple.
The horsemen on the west frieze are in the Kerameikos district where the procession started. Some converse, some others fasten their sandals, some of them bridle their horses or try to soothe them, while a few horsemen are already galloping in loose formation.
The west frieze is preserved almost intact as the bombardment of the Parthenon by the Venetians under the command of the general Francesco Morosini in 1687 did not affect this side of the temple. Its total length is 21.18 m and is composed of sixteen blocks. Fourteen of them are displayed in the Acropolis Museum after they were removed from the Parthenon in 1993 and kept in the old Acropolis Museum for fifteen years. Blocks I and II are in the British Museum in London, where they ended up after they were forcibly removed by Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin, between 1801 and 1804, when Greece was still under Ottoman occupation.
Pαγκαβής, A., Σύνοψις των Πρακτικών της Aρχαιολογικής Eταιρείας των Aθηνών: ανατύπωση τευχών 1-6 και δημοσίευση των Πρακτικών των ετών 1837-1846/7, β΄ έκδοση, 1846, σελ. 204, 298, 306-312
Bowie, Th., Thimme, D. (εκδ.), The Carrey Drawings of the Parthenon Sculptures, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1971, σελ. 55, 56, πίν. 13
Jenkins, I., «Acquisition and Supply of Casts of the Parthenon Sculptures by the British Museum, 1835-1939», Annual of the British School at Athens 85, 1990, σελ. 90, 106-108
Mαλλούχου-Tufano, Φ., H αναστήλωση των αρχαίων μνημείων στην Eλλάδα (1834-1939). Το έργο της εν Aθήναις Aρχαιολογικής Eταιρείας και της Aρχαιολογικής Yπηρεσίας. Β΄ έκδοση, Αθήνα, 2008, σελ. 32-33, 299-300
Μανιδάκη, Β., «Η αντικατάσταση των γλυπτικών αρχιτεκτονικών μελών στα μνημεία της Ακρόπολης. Εκμαγεία, αντίγραφα και αυθεντικά μέλη», Τεχνικές Αναστήλωσης, υλικά και προβλήματα εφαρμογής, Πρακτικά Ημερίδας, Εταιρεία έρευνας και προώθησης της επιστημονικής αναστήλωσης των μνημείων (ΕΤΕΠΑΜ), Θεσσαλονίκη 20/11/2010, ψηφιακός δίσκος, 2010, σελ. 1, 3 και υποσημ. 5
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