Identifier: sixgreeksculptor00gard (find matches)
Title: Six Greek sculptors
Year: 1915 (1910s)
Authors: Gardner, Ernest Arthur, 1862-1939
Subjects: Sculptors Sculpture, Greek
Publisher: London : Duckworth and Co. New York : C. Scribner's Sons
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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son to believe that Phidiasexercised a more direct supervision and was more im-mediately responsible, at least for the design. But theonly part of the work which is directly attributed tohim by ancient authorities is the colossal gold and ivorystatue of Athena Parthenos in the cella of the Parthe-non—a statue which ranked with the Zeus at Olympiaas the most characteristic work of Phidias. This statuehas, of course, completely disappeared; all that cannow be seen upon the site are the traces of the pedestalupon which it stood. We possess, however, a goodmany more or less direct copies from the statue, thoughit unfortunately happens that their artistic merit isalmost exactly in inverse proportion to their fidelity tothe original from which they are derived. They do notreally give us much information beyond what we canderive from the description of the statue by Pausaniasand from our general knowledge of the sculpture of thetime. They serve, however, as a help in an endeavour Plate XXI
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SMALL COPY OF ATHENA PARTHEXOS, IN MADRID To face p. 90 PHIDIAS 91 to imagine what the original must have been like, evenif they preserve us very little of its artistic character. The goddess was represented standing, a figure ofVictory on her extended right hand, her left hand rest-ing upon her shield, and also holding her spear ; withinthe hollow of her shield was coiled the sacred serpent.She was clothed in a simple Doric chiton, of which theupper fold fell below her waist and was confined by agirdle, meeting in front in a snaky clasp ; her weightrested mainly on her right leg, in front of which thedress fell in heavy and rigid folds; her left leg wasbent, and so, as the knee projected forward, wasmodelled through the drapery—a common device inthe sculpture of the period. Every available part ofthe statue and its accessories was covered with therichest decoration. The description of Pausanias wouldof itself suffice to show this. On the middle of herhelmet,1 he says, is set a Sphi

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