Inventory number
Ακρ. 14936
Artist
Pheidias' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
437-432 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.61 m
Length: 1.86 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
Parthenon Gallery
Part of a reclining woman usually identified with the personification of the water spring Kallirhoe that streamed on the west bank of Ilissos river.
The woman wears a peplos belted at the waist and over it a himation that covers her back and legs. She leans on her right elbow and raises her left hand as she converses with Ilissos (Ακρ. 887) on her right.
The figure must have been damaged in 1687 during the bombardment of the Parthenon by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini. This is the reason why it was not taken by Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin, who was in Greece between 1801-1804 when the country was under Ottoman rule, and forcibly detached most of the sculptures of the pediment still in their original position. The part of the statue that survived remained in its original position in the south corner of the pediment and was removed in 1977 in order to be protected from the adverse weather conditions.
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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