The History of Greece from Its Commencement to the Close of the Independence of the Greek Nation (Volume 1)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 Excerpt: ...by the painting of the architectural details. But the choicest ornament of the temple was the sculptures in the pediment, in the metopes, and on the frieze surrounding the cella. On the eastern pediment was represented the birth of Athene from the head of Zeus, on the western the struggle between Athene and Poseidon. Most of the figures, which are entire statues and not mere reliefs, are in the British Museum; they form the culminating point of Greek sculpture. The natural appearance of the bodies and the drapery in no way detracts from the ideal effect produced by the whole and the details. Their tranquillity does not degenerate into stiffness, their movements betray no undue lack of repose. When the groups had become better known through their removal to London, they excited general admiration even among the best artists, and they have effected a complete revolution in our conception of ancient art. It is they which have taught us what Greek art really was. In the metopes, as was natural and usual in the case of sculpture confined to a limited space, were represented combats between gods and giants, Lapithae and Centaurs, Athenians and Amazons, and Greeks and Trojans. A few of them are in London, and the rest in situ. The frieze, which is in low relief, gives an ideal presentation (the preliminaries and the actual procession are intermingled) of the Panathenaic procession, with the gods as spectators. The portrayal of noble and graceful movement is here seen in perfection. We have a series of figures in sitting, walking, and carrying attitudes, men in chariots and men on horseback, some stationary and others at a gallop. All the space is so well utilized that there is no crowding and no gaps, a point in which modern artists, even of the first rank, are no...