Parthenon. West pediment. Kekrops' daughter

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 9331

Artist

Pheidias' workshop

Category

Architectural sculpture

Period

Classical Period

Date

437-432 BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.655 m
Length: 0.54 m
Width: 0.287 m

Material

Marble from Penteli

Location

Parthenon Gallery

Description
Bibliography

Part of a woman’s torso identified with one of Kekrops' daughters. She wears a long garment and with her right arm stretched walks briskly towards her young brother Erysichthon (Ακρ. 7301). The woman’s head was removed at some unidentified point, possibly during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian church. The rest of the sculpture was destroyed perhaps in 1687 during the bombardment of the Parthenon by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini. Only this part of the statue found on the Acropolis survived.

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.

Sauer, B., «Untersuchungen über die Giebelgruppen des Parthenon», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 16, 1891, σελ. 86
Smith, A.H., British Museum. The Sculptures of the Parthenon, London, 1910, σελ. 24 (Ακρ. 922), πίν. 14Α, αρ. κατ. 101
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 57, αρ. κατ. 922 (συγκολλημένο στο Ακρ. 9331)
Berger, E., Parthenon-Ostgiebel. Vorbemerkungen zur einer Rekonstruktion, Bonn, 1959, σελ. 15 υποσημ. 35, πίν. 2
Fehl, P., «The Rocks on the Parthenon Frieze», Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 24, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Jun), 1961, σελ. 24, πίν. 5a
Brommer, F., Die Skulpturen der Parthenon-Giebel, Mainz, 1963, σελ. 35 (F), 76, εικ. 64, 65.2, αρ. κατ. 101 (Ακρ. 922)
Fuchs, W., «Review of Brommer, Giebel», Gnomon 39, 1967, σελ. 166
Brommer, F., «Studien zu den Parthenongiebeln V», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 84, 1969, σελ. 115
Palagia, O., The Pediments of the Parthenon, Boston, 1993, σελ. 43-44, εικ. 3
Μάντης, Α., «Μουσείο Ακρόπολης 922+9331+9200. Η αποκατάσταση ενός εναέτιου γλυπτού του Παρθενώνα», στο Δ. Δαμάσκος (επιμ.), Αρχαία Ελληνική Γλυπτική. Αφιέρωμα στη μνήμη του γλύπτη Στέλιος Τριάντη, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, 1ο παράρτημα, Αθήνα, 2002, σελ. 117-128, εικ. 1-8
Choremi-Spetsieri, A., «1995-2002: Αρχαιολογική έρευνα για την Ακρόπολη», στο F. Mallouchou-Tufano (επιμ.), Proceedings of the 5th International Meeting for the Restoration of the Akropolis Monuments, Athens, 4-6 October 2002, Αθήνα, 2002, σελ. 393, εικ. 1