Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope XXXI). This metope is from the eastern half of the south side of the temple. The South metopes in the British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. A Centaur, on the left, and a Lapith tussle like two wrestlers. The Lapith has seized the Centaur by the hair with his right hand, pressing his right knee on the Centaur’s breast, his left arm is drawn back. The Centaur, rearing up, grasps the Lapith by the throat, twisting his forelegs round the Lapith’s right leg. The Centaurs right arm, made separately, and right hind foreleg are missing, as are the Lapith’s left forearm and foot, and parts of the frame. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Smith, A, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1892; Choremi-Spetsieri, Alkistis, The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre, Athens, Ephesus Publishing, 2004; Brommer, Frank, Die Metopen des Parthenon, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1967; Smith, A, The sculptures of the Parthenon, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1910; Berger, Ernst, Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1986
Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope III). The South metopes in The British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. A Lapith, on the right, attacks a Centaur, from behind, resting his right knee on the Centaur’s hindquarters and extending his right arm to seize the Centaur’s neck. The upper body of the Centaur is turned back towards his attacker. An animal skin is wound around his left arm. A long chlamys hangs from the shoulders of the Lapith and he wears boots. Dowel holes, in his left side and at the junction of the chlamys, are visible and probably served for the attachment of metal weapons. The left arm and left foot of the Lapith, the Centaur’s right arm and three of his legs, and the heads of both figures and parts of the frame are missing. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Smith, A, The sculptures of the Parthenon, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1910; Choremi-Spetsieri, Alkistis, The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre, Athens, Ephesus Publishing, 2004; Smith, A, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1892; Brommer, Frank, Die Metopen des Parthenon, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1967; Berger, Ernst, Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1986
Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope XXVII). This metope is from the eastern half of the south side of the temple. The South metopes in the British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. A young Lapith, on the left, holds a Centaur’s head from behind with his left hand, while preparing to deliver a blow with the other. The Centaur, wounded in the back, rears up and presses his right hand against the wound. A chlamys falls over both Lapith’s arms, hanging behind his back. Both heads, the Lapith’s foreleg and right forearm, and the Centaurs left arm and right leg are missing. Parts of the frame in the top left hand corner are restored. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Smith, A, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1892; Choremi-Spetsieri, Alkistis, The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre, Athens, Ephesus Publishing, 2004; Brommer, Frank, Die Metopen des Parthenon, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1967; Smith, A, The sculptures of the Parthenon, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1910; Berger, Ernst, Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1986
Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; enkins, Ian, The Parthenon Frieze, London, BMP, 1994
Marble metope from the Parthenon (South metope VII). The South metopes in The British Museum show the battle between Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage-feast of Peirithoos. With his left hand a Lapith, on the left, grasps a Centaur. His right arm is drawn back and he probably once held a metal sword, now lost, in his hand, about to strike the Centaur. A chlamys fastened on his right shoulder falls over his left arm and flies out behind his back. The Centaur, rearing up, tries to pull away the Lapith’s left hand. From the shoulders of the Centaur hangs a small chlamys. The head of the Centaur is in the Acropolis Museum, Athens, and the Lapith’s head is in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The Lapith’s hands, left foot and the right leg below the knee are missing. As are the Centaur’s left arm below the shoulder and part of his left hind leg and parts of the frame. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Smith, A, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1892; Choremi-Spetsieri, Alkistis, The Sculptures of the Parthenon: Acropolis, British Museum, Louvre, Athens, Ephesus Publishing, 2004; Brommer, Frank, Die Metopen des Parthenon, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1967; Smith, A, The sculptures of the Parthenon, London, William Clowes and Sons, 1910; Berger, Ernst, Der Parthenon in Basel; Dokumentation zu den Metopen, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1986
Marble relief (Block XLVII) from the North frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. Like the southern branch of the procession, the northern branch comprises mounted horsemen, chariots, elders, musicians, pitcher-bearers, tray-bearers and figures leading sacrificial victims. As in the South frieze, so in the North the cavalcade comprised sixty riders. Whereas in the South these are carved over twenty-four blocks, in the North they are compressed into nineteen blocks. The groups of riders are not divided equally, as they are in the South. Dress varies from figure to figure. Some are heavily draped in mantle and tunic, while others are all but naked. Some ride bareheaded, while others wear a distinctive form of cap or a helmet. Metal reins, which are now lost, were inserted in drill-holes. Block XLVII shows a scene of preparation for the cavalcade that lies ahead, echoing the major theme of the West frize. Its return on the West side is carved with a marshal. On the right a boy, wearing drapery over his shoulder, is tying a girdle around the waist of the waiting horseman, dressed in a tunic. The heads of the youth and the boy are both dipped, just as the head of the horse, waiting patiently by. On the left a figure, wearing a cloak, stands by his horse, which he restrains with his right arm, while his left is raised to the head with the index finger extended. His head is turned back to his unprepared companions. A fragment, the horse’s head, is in the Acropolis Museum, Athens. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; enkins, Ian, The Parthenon Frieze, London, BMP, 1994
Marble fragment of frieze-crown of the Parthenon. The frieze-crown was painted with a maeander pattern and surmounted the frieze on all four sides of the building. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892
Marble relief (Block V) from the East frieze of the Parthenon. The frieze shows the procession of the Panathenaic festival, the commemoration of the birthday of the goddess Athena. This Block shows five gods and five figures involved in a ritual. On the left of the Block stands Iris, who arranges her hair. The surviving fragment of her head is in the Acropolis Museum, Athens. Hera sits in front of Iris and makes the bridal gesture of holding out her veil. By the side of Hera, Zeus leans over the back of a throne. In his right hand he holds a sceptre or thunderbolt. As father of gods, his seat is distinguished from those of the other gods, who occupy simple stools. The arm-rest is supported by a miniature sphinx. On the extreme right of the Block, Athena is shown seated with Hephaestus. In her lap can be seen the snake fringe of the aegis, which the goddess wore for protection. Drill-holes on her right side indicate the line of her spear. Hephaestus is heavily muscled but supports his right side with a crutch under the arm. Between the two ranks of seated gods a group of five figures is involved in a ritual which has to do with the piece of cloth held up by a man and a child. This is thought to be the peplos of Athena, dedicated on the occasion of the Panathenaic festival. The man wears the long unbelted tunic of a priest and is usually identified with the chief magistrate and overseer of Athenian state religion, Archon Basileus. The child is probably a boy and may be identified as a temple-server. The woman with her back to the priest is likely to be the priestess of Athena Polias, goddess of the city. She is about to receive the cushioned stool carried by the girl approaching her. Another girl approaches behind the first, carrying both a stool and, on her left arm, a footstool. This last is much damaged but the unmistakable paw-shaped foot of one leg is preserved. The central Block of the East frieze was placed over the approach to the East doorway of the temple that gave access to the statue of the goddess within. The Block was removed during the Christian re-use of the Parthenon as a church. It was not destroyed, however, and survived on the Acropolis built into a wall, where it was found and rescued by Lord Elgin’s men. For more information on the pedestrian-procession see East frieze Block III. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Jenkins, Ian, The Parthenon Frieze, London, BMP, 1994
The East pediment showed the miraculous birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. Many of the figures from the central scene are now fragmentary or entirely lost. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Jenkins, Ian, The Parthenon Frieze, London, BMP, 1994
The East pediment showed the miraculous birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. Many of the figures from the central scene are now fragmentary or entirely lost. --The British Museum, Pryce, F N; Smith, A H, Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum, I-III, London, BMP, 1892; Jenkins, Ian, The Parthenon Frieze, London, BMP, 1994