DOR
297
DOR
J 8ute 3 _ .
3te desip. ' a '® on g them are several equestrian figures, whichfor th^ * n t * le most admirable manner, and are remark-
ed
^varied attitudes of the horses, and for the easeOther figures in the procession are
C S r iot ee y °f *he riders.
I lc t° r j^ rs ln their cars, one of whom is supposed to be the^en a chariot-race, as a man is about to crown him.>e.n, ea c i?^ men carrying trays ; then the sacrifieers and the* e >»al e8 Athenian colony sending an ox to this great festival.
a \ e a ^ so present; some carrying dishes or pateras,( ,'*d 8itu at . rin g P’tchers of water. Two of the young femalesj e s acr(. ( j 1 }| 1S op § reat importance, their office being to carryjj Sliced . aeta - Several gods and goddesses are likewise^fes are ‘ th . e y are seated, to denote their dignity. TheseIS ' at >ce. ln high relief, so that they are visible at some
5°t b ! e tlia t
w a ’ ai ? d although it is impossible now to decide howit.,. the actual work of Phidias himself, it is highlyk tenjT the y> as we ^ as tl' e other sculptured decorationsa °tyn, he^ 6 ’ Were ah designed by the great master. (It isa 1'Ptur e \ P ract ised the art of painting previously to that ofalshftj , ' It hfl.« Koan a C/ini'fnina^ +l»n+ tltnTr tio nn»»afiillTr
.f*( s hed ^ has been ascertained, that they are as carefullyi t . bl e Un d as before, and in places which could not be
ti )s jti S ti v e . n ° nce they had reached their destination ; hence,tlj 6 ° r deal In f f erre d, that all these sculptures had to undergot! y left t , 01 a searching criticism of the public eye, beforeaddip artlst ’s studio.
lon to the embellishments already described, whichj t) ln er Va , ® j eni ple, Phidias made the. celebrated statue off c *' Th; g !? Ic h stood in the cell, or open part of the build-up high, if ure > formed of ivory and gold, was thirty-sevenUp e Presp^ aU8anias sa y s that it stood erect; the goddessah ^ and nt - ed w *th her garments reaching to her feet, hel-f n , a «ld „ a Medusa ’s head on her breast; in one hand
cm)it g S P aa r, and on the other stood a Victory-, of about^gh. Monsieur Quartreinere de Quincy, whoa t pains in investigating the subject of ancienta 18 fam 88 Ca l cij lated, that the value of the gold employedA fiie^ Us . st atue was equal to £130,000 sterling.
li 6 of the Parthenon , as far the architecture isa sit aS . k een erected at Edinburgh , on the Calton-
Iac -8
hin 8r n e d,
a. '^s _ ""Nation resembling the Athenian Acropolis . Mr.VbrL° p0Secl it as the model for the Fitzwilliam Museum ,^ ( 1 i a The proportions of its Doric order are lmi
hJ'^lie t p0rt 'co of Covent Garden Theatre.
°0g tp ?, mple of Theseus , which is generally reckoned toC thea o n h - e a S e of Pericles , and earlier in date than thej^ilicen’ 18 one of the noblest monuments of AthenianvWfe,?’ and > in the time of Stuart, was one of theSNans r ‘ The sanctuary of Theseus was raised by thek,. 8 °a afler the Medes were at Marathon, when Cimon ,4 t S f 0 p ^'itiades, expelled the people of Scyros, a retn-.Ss’ Lt»e (Wu -/-r. ’
hy ete d e qJ- ac . es this event at a date which is generally' 6 > "'Ht 6nt to the year 467 b.c. The Parthenon j' 8 i g'j ' (the v „ ers ’. believed to have been commenced about<^ e h ye a ar .* n w hich Cimon died), and to have occu-# Sl tem 8 / 11 erect ion. In the opinion of Lord Aber-k’Sia g th t}, e , p . e Theseus may be considered as«nearlyt i J Uin 0t>le what u, ^ings of the Acropolis , or perhaps of an°f P ( , rit ear i' er -’ (Inauirv. n. 143.1 The Theseum
Pi,
Pei
Pot °f
Puli ar • el *o marble, and is raised upon two steps,
■M ul 8i x '^ 111 this respect. The are^leven columns,VrtA^tivi * UTUns ™ front; at each side a ^ t the
1&QS* “» -Ele— 7 ? f •‘Jj’lii ‘he
*P > ar c a ” 0utlded by thirty-four columns. t een
! O’ consisting of only twoi columnste a re three deep recesses, which lean to4 G
There is here no division in the internal part, where it ispresumed that the remains of Theseus were buried. Thistemple is 104 feet long, 45 feet wide, both dimensions beingtaken on the upper step, and 25 feet 2 inches high ; thediameter of the columns is 3 feet 3 inches. The sculpturesin the metopes were representations of the exploits of The-seus, and of the labours of Hercules , who appears to havebeen honoured in this temple, as well as Theseus , his kins-man and friend. The frieze of the wall behind the easternportico was adorned with a representation of a battle andvictory, in which six of the divinities are present; three ofwhom are Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Among the com-batants is one of superior stature and dignity, hurling at hisassailants a stone of prodigious size; he is supposed to beTheseus, in the act of overthrowing the Persians at Mara-thon . The battle between the Centaurs and Lapith® wassculptured on the wall behind the western portico. Thesculptures (of which are casts in the British Museum ) are,according to Pausanias , supposed to be the work of thefamous Michon.
“ It has been discovered of late years, that the Parthenon ,and nearly all the buildings at Athens , had colours appliedto their different enrichments; but it does not appear thatthe advocates of Greek polychromy have clearly made outthat this practice belongs to the pure age of Pericles andPhidias . It is much more likely to have been introducedlong after their time.
“ The temple of Corinth is probably the most ancient speci-ment of the Doric order in existence. It is built of a roughporous stone, and is supposed to have had porticos of sixcolumns, five of which remain in the western front, and sixare seen on one flank; its arrangement, perhaps, was similarto that of the temple of Theseus ; the columns are 5 feet 10inches in diameter, and their shafts, 21 feet in height, arecomposed each of a single stone. There is no sculpture uponthe temple, as all above the architrave has long since disap-peared. Since Stuart’s time, five of the columns whichappear in the flank, in his work, have been blown into frag-ments by gunpowder, to assist in building the house of agovernor of Corinth. Lord Aberdeen observes, ‘It hasbeen said, that this temple was dedicated to Venus; but, infact, no information is to be obtained respecting its origin.Whatever may have been its destination, no one can doubt,from the appearance of the ruins alone, that they formed partof a structure of the most remote antiquity.’
“ One of the noblest efforts of the genius of Ictinus is tobe seen in the temple of Apollo Epicurius, in Arcadia. Itoffers many architectural peculiarities, and exhibits a greatervariety of details than are usually met with in the Greciantemples.
“ Pausanias, speaking of this building, which is at Bassae ,near Phigalia , states, that ‘ the temple of Apollo Epicurius(the deliverer), which, together with the roof, is of stone,surpasses all the temples which are in Peloponnesus (withthe exception of that in Tegea) in the beauty of the stone,and harmony of the proportions.’
“ The entrance to the temple was facing the north, contraryto the usual practice. The temple was 47 feet broad, 125feet long, and ascended by three steps. There were sixcolumns in each front, and fjfteen on each flank, all 3 feet 7inches in diameter, and 19 feet 6 inches high. In the interiorof the cell were attached columns, of the Ionic order, of a very-ancient character, (together with a single insulated column ofthe Corinthian order,) over which, on the four sides of thecell, ranged the sculptured frieze. The columns and wallsare constructed of the hard and beautiful limestone of thecountry, but the sculpture and roof are of marble.' It would