Inventory number
Ακρ. 880
Artist
Pheidias' workshop
Category
Architectural sculpture
Period
Classical Period
Date
437-432 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.84 m
Length: 0.49 to 0.64 m
Width: 0.44 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
Parthenon Gallery
Torso of a mature man usually identified as Hephaistos although some scholars think it is Poseidon or Ares. The figure turns to the viewer’s left, towards the centre of the pediment where the scene of Athena's birth takes place. He is draped in a himation a small part of which is discerned on the back of his left shoulder. In the three holes along the left side of the torso a metal object, probably a sword, must have been adjusted. If the portrayed figure is Hephaistos the statue would have held in his raised right hand the axe with which the god split open Zeus' head and the fully armed Athena sprung out.
The torso was found in 1836 in front of the east side of the Parthenon. It probably had fallen off from the pediment in 1687 during the bombardment of the Parthenon by the Venetians under the general Francesco Morosini. This is the reason that it was not taken by Thomas Bruce, lord of Elgin, who was in Greece between 1801-1804 when the country was under Ottoman rule and forcefully detached most of the sculptures of the pediment still in their original position. The statues initially placed in the pediments’ centre had been already removed by then, perhaps in order to accommodate the niche for the inner sanctum during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian Church.
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.
Sauer, B., Der Weber-Laborde'sche Kopf und die Giebelgruppen des Parthenon, Berlin, 1903, σελ. 29-30, πίν. ΙΙΙ
De Laborde, L., Le Parthénon: documents pour servir à une restauration (planches), 1848, Paris, πίν. 6
Ross, L., Archäologische Aufsätze I: Ausgrabungsberichte aus Athen. Zur Kunstgeschichte und Topographie von Athen und Attika, Leipzig, 1855, σελ. 114-115
Furtwängler, A., Intermezzi, Leipzig/Berlin, 1896, σελ. 28-30
Smith, A.H., A Catalogue of the Sculptures of the Parthenon in the British Museum, London, 1906, σελ. 30-31, αρ. κατ. 303H
Smith, A.H., British Museum. The Sculptures of the Parthenon, London, 1910, σελ. 22, πίν. 13,11, αρ. κατ. 11
Σβορώνος, Ι., «Φως επί του Παρθενώνος», Journal international d’archéologie numismatique 14, 1912, σελ. 281-284, εικ. 19
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 1, 41-42, αρ. κατ. D
Wegner, M., «Peplossattue aus dem Ostgiebel des Parthenon», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 57, 1932, σελ. 98-99
Carpenter, R., «The Lost Statues of the East Pediment of the Parthenon», Hesperia 2, 1933, σελ. 24-25
Schweitzer, B., «Prolegomena zur Kunst des Parthenon-Meisters I», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 53, 1938, σελ. 46-49, εικ. 13-14
Picard, C., La Sculpture II. Période Classique - Ve siècle, Manuel d'Archéologie Grecque II. 2, Paris, 1939, σελ. 487-489
Schweitzer, B., «Prolegomena zur Kunst des Parthenon-Meisters II. Der Entwurf und der Parthenonmeister», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 54, 1939, σελ. 48-52, εικ. 31
Buschor, E., Phidias der Mensch, München, 1948, σελ. 36, 38, εικ. 24
Becatti, G., Problemi fidiaci, Milano/Firenze, 1951, πίν. 59.173
Jeppesen, K., «The Pedimental Compositions of the Parthenon», Acta Archaeologica 24, 1953, σελ. 116, 124
Berger, E., Parthenon-Ostgiebel. Vorbemerkungen zur einer Rekonstruktion, Bonn, 1959, σελ. 23-24, 30-35, πίν. Ι-ΙΙ
Carpenter, R., «On Restoring the East Pediment of the Parthenon», American Journal of Archaeology 66, 1962, σελ. 265-268
Jeppesen, K., «Bild und Mythus an der Parthenon. Zur Ergänzung und Deutung der Kultbildausschmückung, des Frieses, der Metopen und der Giebel», Acta Archaeologica 34, 1963, σελ. 88, εικ. 22b, 23d
Brommer, F., Die Skulpturen der Parthenon-Giebel, Mainz, 1963, σελ. 15-16, 154-155, εικ. 43-44
Becatti, G., «Postille partenonice: i frontoni», Archeologia Classica 17, 1965, σελ. 57-60
Harrison, E.B., «Athena and Athens in the East Pediment of the Parthenon», American Journal of Archaeology 71, 1967, σελ. 36-39, πίν. 18, εικ. 17-18
Fuchs, W., «Review of Brommer, Giebel», Gnomon 39, 1967, σελ. 163
Brommer, F., «Studien zu den Parthenongiebeln V», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 84, 1969, σελ. 108-109, πίν. 41-42
Beyer, I., «Die Position der Peplosfigur "Wegner" im Parthenon-Ostgiebel», Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Athenische Abteilung 89, 1974, σελ. 123-149, εικ. Beil. 4
Berger, E., Die Geburt der Athena im Ostgiebel des Parthenon, Basel, 1974, σελ. 21-23, 54-57, 59, εικ. 6-8, 10, πίν. I, 3a-e
Berger, E., «Parthenon-Studien: Erster Zwischenbericht», Antike Kunst 19, 1976, σελ. 131
Δεσπίνης, Γ., Παρθενώνεια, Αθήνα, 1982, σελ. 56-59, 80, εικ. 5-6, πίν. 72
Jeppesen, K., «Evidence for the restoration of the East Pediment Reconsidered in the Light of Recent Achievements», στο E. Berger (επιμ.), Parthenon-Kongress Basel : Referate und Berichte, 4. bis 8. April 1982, Mainz, 1984, σελ. 270, 271, 274 υποσημ. 42, εικ. 5, 7, πίν. 22-23
Despinis, G., «Neue Fragmente von Parthenonskulpturen und Bemerkungen zur Rekonstruktion des Parthenon-Ostgiebels», στο E. Berger (επιμ.), Parthenon-Kongress Basel: Referate und Berichte, 4. bis 8. April 1982, Mainz, 1984, σελ. 297-299, εικ. 1
Simon, E., «El Nacimiento de Atenea en el Frontón Oriental del Parthenón», Coloquio sobre el puteal de la Moncloa, Madrid, 1986, σελ. 65-85, εικ. 11, 17
Beyer. I., «Der Hephaistostorso des Parthenon-Ostgiebels», Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Akten des XIII. Internationaler Kongress für klassische Archäologie, Berlin 1988, Mainz, 1990, σελ. 293-299, εικ. 1-5, πίν. 37.4
Palagia, O., The Pediments of the Parthenon, Boston, 1993, σελ. 25-26, εικ. 67-69
Δεληβορριάς, Α., «Ο γλυπτικός διάκοσμος του Παρθενώνα», στο Π. Τουρνικιώτης (επιμ.), Ο Παρθενώνας και η Ακτινοβολία του στα Νεώτερα Χρόνια, Αθήνα, 1994, σελ. 106-107, εικ. 15, 16, 19
Τριάντη, Ι., Το Μουσείο Ακροπόλεως, Ο Κύκλος των Μουσείων, Αθήνα, 1998, σελ. 253, 274, εικ. 277
Rolley, Cl., La Sculpture Grecque. La periode classique, 2, Paris, 1999, σελ. 74, εικ. 64
Mostratos, G., «A Reconstruction of the Parthenon's East Pediment», στο M.B. Cosmopoulos (επιμ.), The Parthenon and its Sculptures, Cambridge University Press, 2004, σελ. 133-134, εικ. 5.4, 5.12, 5.16
Choremi-Spetsieri, A., Τhe Sculptures of the Parthenon. Acropolis-British Museum-Louvre, Athens, 2004, σελ. 129-130, εικ. 83, 92
Michaelis, Α., Der Parthenon, Leipzig, 1870 und 1871, σελ. 175, πίν. 6, αρ. κατ. 13 (Η)
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site
The use of your data is described in the privacy settings