How many metopes decorated the parthenon

Their pronounced presence on the east side, i. There is a certain link here with the east frieze and east pediment. There is also a clearly planned progression of scenes compositionally, with the movement toward the center from each side, as in the east frieze. However there is no sense that one scene precedes another in narrative fashion. Despite the poor condition the symmetry of the overall design is clearly apparent and its original impression must have been even stronger.

The composition of the fourth slab from each end is much fuller, and the charioteer next to each of these moves toward the center, focusing attention on the four central slabs. Whatever the significance here, Athena is not the focus. Her identification is reasonably clear owing to the presence of Nike beside her. She is off to one side E. South : Centaurs versus Lapiths. By far the best preserved, even the missing slabs are known from the drawings of Carrey, who carefully recorded the entire side.

All but the central nine S. The central group, at least in part, is clearly set off from the battle. The problem, specific interpretation aside, is to what extent its subject relates to the fighting centaurs. The best known story of the Centauromachy involves the disruption of a wedding, and several interpretations offer a variation on this premise. The large number of women, their poses and attributes appear to support this.

Some scholars see a specifically Attic myth represented. Robertson suggests that episodes in the life of Daedalus are depicted. Brommer believes that, whatever the subject, it relates directly to the centaurs so that the overall theme of the side is a unified one.

The metopes involving centaurs appear, like those on the west side, to be individual units whose arrangement is not of great importance. The central metopes, however, suggest a definite relationship and order within the group. Several explanations have been offered. One hypothesis, no longer much in favor, holds that some of the metopes are in fact significantly earlier because they were carved for an earlier version of the Parthenon never built. Other theories hold that, as the first of the sculpture to be assigned, they were not yet subject to a stylistic norm.

Along related lines, the overall design may have been so general in nature that sculptors were left to their own devices for all but the loosest compositional guidelines. A reconstruction of how the Acropolis may have looked in ancient times, including the Parthenon.

Illustration by Kate Morton. It was the centrepiece of an ambitious building programme centred on the Acropolis. Some of the sculptures from the east pediment of the Parthenon. The temple was richly decorated with sculptures, designed by the famous artist Pheidias, which took until BC to complete.

The pediments and metopes illustrate episodes from Greek myth, while the frieze represents the people of Athens in a religious procession. Inside the building stood a colossal image of Athena Parthenos, constructed of gold and ivory by Pheidias and probably dedicated in BC. You can find out a bit more about Greek architecture and what some of these terms mean in this blog post. Sculptures carved in the round filled the pediments the triangular gables at either end of the building.

A reconstruction of the Parthenon showing the location of one of the pediments. The pediment sculptures and metopes illustrate episodes from Greek myth, and include the famous head of a horse of Selene the moon goddess and the river god Ilissos. Head of a horse of Selene and the river god Ilissos from the east and west pediments of the Parthenon. Metopes rectangular slabs carved in high relief were placed above the architrave the lintel above the columns on the outside of the temple. An illustration showing the location of the pediment, metopes and frieze on the Parthenon.

The metopes illustrate episodes from Greek myth, including the battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths. Marble metope from the Parthenon showing the battle between a Centaur and a Lapith.

Athens, — BC. The frieze carved in low relief ran around all four sides of the building inside the colonnade. A reconstruction of the Parthenon showing the location of the frieze.

While the pediment sculptures and metopes depicted scenes from Greek myth, as was usual for the sculpture on Greek temples, the frieze breaks with all tradition as it shows the people of Athens in a religious procession. The Athenians on the frieze are not really portraits of ordinary people though. Instead, they are shown as an ideal community.

A section of the Parthenon frieze. Pheidias was the most famous sculptor of all antiquity. He is best known as the artistic director of the Athenian building programme, including the Parthenon sculptures and the colossal gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos that stood inside the Parthenon.

Image from Wikimedia Commons. The marble figures of the Parthenon metopes reconstruct a dynamic narrative with abundant energy and detail. The tension of the muscles, the push of the bone against the flesh, and even bulging veins are clearly visible and surprising details for sculptures that were to be seen from a considerable distance as they clinked near the top of the building.

At the east or front of the temple the metopes depicted the Gigantomachy, or the battle between the gods and the giants. The west metopes depicted fights between Greeks and the Amazons or Persians , while the north and south metopes included scenes from the Trojan War and the Cenauromachy respectively. While the narrative differs from side to side, the metopes are bound thematically by a common theme: the triumph of civilization over barbarism, a theme dear to the hearts of the Athenians who were not shy to believe themselves and their achievements as superior to other cultures of their time.