Archive:Athena Parthenos

2008-05-05T04:08:51Z

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'''''Athena Parthenos''''' (Athena the person that got fucked by Ivo... she's definitely not a virgin) was the title of a massive [[chryselephantine]] [[sculpture]] of the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] [[goddess]] [[Athena]] by [[Phidias]]. It was named after an epithet for the goddess herself, and was housed in the [[Parthenon]] in [[Athens]]. A number of replicas and works inspired by it, both ancient and modern, have been made.

[[Image:NAMA Athéna Varvakeion.jpg|thumb|200px|A votive sculpture found near the [[Ioannis Varvakis|Varvakeion school]] reflects the type of the restored ''Athena Parthenos'': Roman period, second century CE (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).]]
It was the most renowned [[cult image]] of Athens,<ref>The ''Athena Parthenos'' was featured on contemporary reliefs commemorating Athenian treaties and for the next century and a half on coins of [[Hellenistic]] monarchs avid to proclaim their Hellenic connections; see Hector Williams, "An Athena Parthenos from Cilicia" ''Anatolian Studies'' '''27''' (1977, pp. 105-110), p 108f.</ref> considered one of the greatest achievements of the most acclaimed sculptor of ancient Greece. Phidias began his work around 447 BCE,<ref>Andrew Stewart gives 446.</ref> [[Lachares]] removed the gold sheets in 296 BCE to pay his troops, and the bronze was probably gilded thereafter; it was damaged by a fire about 165 BCE but repaired.<ref>W.B. Dinsmoor, "the repair of the Athena Parthenos" ''[[American Journal of Archaeology]]'' '''38''' (1934) pp 93-106.</ref> It continued to stand in the Parthenon in the fifth century CE, when it may have been lost in another fire. An account mentions it in Constantinople in the tenth century, however.<ref>[[Gisela Richter]], ''Sculpture and Sculptors of the Greeks'', p 220 with ancient references, noted by Gorham P. Stevens, "Concerning the Parthenos" ''Hesperia'' '''30'''.1 (January 1961, pp. 1-7) p. 2.</ref>

==Description==
The ancient historian [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] gave a description of the statue:
<blockquote>...The statue itself is made of ivory silver and gold. On the middle of her helmet is placed a likeness of the [[Sphinx]] ... and on either side of the helmet are [[griffin]]s in relief. ... The statue of Athena is upright, with a tunic reaching to the feet, and on her breast the head of [[Medusa]] is worked in ivory. She holds a statue of [[Nike (mythology)|Victory]] about four [[cubit]]s high, and in the other hand a spear; at her feet lies a shield and near the spear is a serpent. This serpent would be [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]]. On the pedestal is the birth of [[Pandora]] in relief.<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'', Book I, 24.5–7.</ref></blockquote>

Athena's head is inclined slightly forward. She stands with her left hand resting on an upright shield. Her left knee is slightly bent, her weight slightly shifted to her right leg. Her [[Chiton (costume)|chiton]] is cinched at the waist by a pair of [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpents]], whose tails entwine at the back. Locks of hair trail onto the goddess's breastplate. The [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] on her outstretched right hand is winged; whether there was a support under it in Phidias' original has been much discussed;<ref>[[Gisela Richter]] decided there was not and summarized the discussion in "Was there a vertical support under the Nike of the Athena Parthenos?" ''Studi in onore... Calderini e Paribeni'' (Milan) 1956, pp 147-54.</ref> evidence in surviving versions is contradictory. The exact position of a spear, often omitted, is also not fully determined, whether held in the crook of Athena's right arm or supported by one of the snakes in the [[aegis]], as N. Leipen restores it,<ref>Leipen 1971:29.</ref> following the "Aspasios" gem.

The sculpture was assembled on a wooden core, covered with shaped bronze plates covered in turn with removable gold plates, save for the ivory surfaces of the goddess's face and arms; the gold weighed 44 [[talent]]s, the equivalent of about 2500 pounds: the ''Athena Parthenos'' embodied a sizeable part of the treasury of Athens.<ref>S. Eddy, "The gold in the Athena Parthenos'' ''Merican Jopurnal of Archaeology'' pp107-11.</ref>

The general type of the ''Athena Parthenos'', though not its character and quality, can be assessed from its image on coins<ref>L. Lacroix ''Les reproductions des statues sur les monnaies gracques'' (Liège) 1949, pp 266-81.</ref> and its reproductions as [[#Ancient copies|miniature sculptures]], as [[Votive deposit|votive object]]s, and in representations on engraved gems.<ref>Leipen 1971.</ref>

==Ancient copies==
[[Image:Strangfrod shield pushkin.jpg|thumb|Plaster cast of the British Museum's Strangford Shield ([[Pushkin Museum]])]]
The Varvakeion votive figure (''illustration, above right'') is one of the two versions of ''Athena Parthenos'' considered most faithful to the original; the other is the uncompleted Lenormant Athena, also in the National Museum, Athens.
*The ''Varvakeion Athena'', a Roman copy in marble of the second century, is housed in the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]]. One of the two versions of ''Athena Parthenos'' considered most faithful to the original.[http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/classics/photos/photodb/Beasom/ParthAthena.jpg]
*Lenormant Athena, uncompleted, of the second to third century, also in the National Museum, Athens. One of the two versions of ''Athena Parthenos'' considered most faithful to the original.
*[[:Image:Athena Parthenos Louvre Ma91.jpg|Another copy]] is housed in the [[Louvre]].[http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=809]
*[[:Image:Athena Parthenos Altemps Inv8622.jpg|Another copy]] is in the [[Museo Nazionale Romano]] in Rome
*The statue's shield alone ([[Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford|Strangford Collection]], [[British Museum]], ''illustration, right'')[http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/f/fragment_of_a_marble_shield.aspx]

== Replica at Nashville ==
[[Image:Nashville Parthenon 005.JPG|thumb|200px|left|The modern ''Athena Parthenos'' replica that stands in the replicated [[Parthenon]] in [[Centennial Park (Nashville)|Centennial Park]], [[Nashville]]]]
A modern replica by [[Alan LeQuire]] stands in the [[Parthenon (Nashville)|reproduction of the Parthenon]] in [[Nashville]], [[Tennessee]]. Alan LeQuire, a Nashville native, was awarded the commission to produce the Parthenon's cult statue. His work was modeled on descriptions given of the original. The modern version took eight years to complete, and was unveiled to the public on [[May 20]] [[1990]].

The modern version of ''Athena Parthenos'' is significant because of its scale and its attention to recreating Phidias' work. The statue adds an additional dimension of realism to the replicated Parthenon, whose interior east room (the ''naos'') was merely a large empty hall prior to the statue's unveiling. The reproduced ''Athena Parthenos'' gives visitors the impression that they truly are inside an ancient place of worship.

''Athena Parthenos'' is made of a composite of [[gypsum]] cement and ground [[fiberglass]], The head of Athena was assembled over an [[aluminum]] [[armature]], and the lower part was made in [[steel]]. The four ten-inch H beams rest on a concrete structure that extends through the Parthenon floor and basement down to [[bedrock]], to support the incredible weight of the statue. LeQuire made each of the 180 cast gypsum panels used to create the statue light enough to be lifted by one person and attached to the steel armature.

=== Gilding and paint ===
[[Image:AthenaAlanpainting.jpg|thumb|right| 170px |Sculptor [[Alan LeQuire]] painting the detail of the ''Athena Parthenos'' replica during the gilding phase.]]
Painstaking research was performed by LeQuire and the Parthenon staff to ensure the accuracy of the statue's resemblance to the Phidias work. It stood in Nashville’s Parthenon as a plain, white statue for twelve years. In [[2002]], Parthenon volunteers [[gild]]ed Athena under the supervision of master gilder Lou Reed. The gilding project took less than four months and makes the modern statue appear that much more like the Phidias' Athena Parthenos would have appeared during its time.

The gold plates on the Athena statue in ancient times weighed approximately 1,500 pounds and were one-eighth to one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The 23.75-karat gold leaf on Nashville's Athena Parthenos weighs a total of 8.5 pounds and is one-third the thickness of tissue paper. The modern extravagance of gilding such a large statue pales in comparison to the lavish spending of the Greeks. In fact, one theory of the original's demise is that Athena Parthenos was decimated and looted to remove the gilding.

In addition to gilding, the project included painting the details of the statue's face, wardrobe and shield. LeQuire himself applied the paint.

=== Facts and figures ===
* Nashville's Athena stands 41'10" (approximately 13 meters) tall, making her the largest piece of indoor sculpture in the Western World.
* The statue of Nike in Athena's right hand stands 6'4" (approximately 2 meters) tall.
* There are eleven snakes represented on Athena's breastplate, bracelets and belt.

==Notes==

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==Further reading==
{{commonscat|Athena Parthenos}}
*Leipen, N. ''Athena Parthenos'' (Toronto) 1971.

==External links==
*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cl135/Students/Colin_Delaney/fathena.html Colin Delaney, "Pheidias, Sculptor to the Gods"]
* [http://alanlequire.com/athena.html Alan LeQuire Page]
* [http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/index.htm Nashville Parthenon Page]

[[Category:Athena types]]
[[Category:Culture of Nashville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:1990 works]]
[[Category:Sculptures by Phidias]]
[[Category:Colossal statues]]
[[Category:Ivory works of art]]

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Archive:Athena Parthenos