Inventory number
Ακρ. 1363
Artist
Pheidias' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
437-432 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.82 m
Length: 0.56 m
Width: 0.72 m
Height: seat 0.56 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
Parthenon Gallery
Part of a seated woman usually identified with one of Erechtheus' daughters although some researchers consider the figure to be Praxithea, Prokne or Prokris. The largest part of her legs roughly from her thighs to her ankles is preserved. The woman sits on a rock and is clad in a peplos and himation wrapped around her waist and legs.
The sculpture was found in 1860 during the excavations conducted on the Acropolis west of the Erechtheion. It must have fallen off from the pediment in 1687 during the bombardment of the Parthenon 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 who between 1801 and 1804, when Greece was still under Ottoman rule, 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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