Parthenon. West pediment. Ilissos

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 887

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.94 m
Length: 0.41 m to 0.72 m
Width: 0.687 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Part of a man’s statue usually identified as the personification of Ilissos, although some researchers consider him to be Eridanos. It was found in two fragments that retain parts of the figure’s torso and legs. The man kneels on the ground raising his right hand and leans towards the viewer’s left resting on his other hand. His himation that falls on his back creates a big mass of cloth that engulfs his bent leg.

The torso was found in January of 1835 during the excavations conducted in front of the southwest corner of the Parthenon. The right leg was located a little later further north. It appears that Ilissos had fallen off from the pediment in 1687 during the Parthenon’s bombardment by the Venetians under the command of general Francesco Morosini. This is the reason why it was not removed by Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin. Between 1801 and 1804 Thomas Bruce was in Greece, still under Ottoman rule at the time, and forcibly detached from the pediment most of the sculptures that he found in their original places.

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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