Inventory number
Ακρ. 6711
Artist
Pheidias' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
437-432 BC
Dimensions
Hera's body fragments: 0.83 x 0.6 x 0.36 m and 1.2 x 0.75 x 0.5 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
Parthenon Gallery
The two non-joining fragments of this statue represent either Hera or Eileithyia. The goddess stands with her weight resting on her left leg possibly raising her right hand. She is dressed in a peplos which is belted at the waist and falls downwards in heavy vertical folds. The statue’s big scale suggests that it was placed in the pediment’s centre but its exact location remains uncertain. Many researchers see a connection between this statue and the woman’s head Ακρ. 2381. The two asymmetric cuttings in the sculpture’s lower skirt were probably used for metal clamps in order to secure the statue in the pediment.
The fragments were found before 1900 in front of the west façade of the Parthenon. Like all other sculptures in the pedimental centre, this statue was removed during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian church possibly to facilitate the construction of its inner sanctum.
The east pediment portrayed the miraculous birth of Athena from the head of her father Zeus. The scene takes place on Mt Olympus in the presence of the other gods who watch standing, sitting or half-reclining. The pediments' corners contained the chariots of Helios (Sun), which emerges from the sea, and Selene (Moon), which sinks in the ocean waves, indicating thus that the goddess' birth takes place at dawn. The centre of the scene was occupied by the statues of Zeus and Athena. Due to the misadventures suffered by the Parthenon over the following centuries, many of the temple's sculptures have been destroyed; some survive in mutilated form, while others are represented only by small fragments.
The two Parthenon pediments are adorned with about fifty oversized statues. The sculptures perfectly worked even on their unseen sides present scenes from the myths of the goddess Athena.
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