Sculpture on the Parthenon
The sculptural decoration of the
Parthenon 1 also proclaimed Athenian confidence about their city-state's relationship
with the gods, whom the citizens regarded as their helpers and supporters. The
Parthenon had sculptured panels along its exterior above the columns and
tableaux of sculptures in the triangular spaces
(pediments)2 underneath the roof line at
both ends of the building. These decorations were part of the
Doric 3 architectural style, but the Parthenon also presented a unique sculptural
feature. Carved in relief around the top of the walls inside the porch formed by the
columns along the edges of the building's platform was a continuous band of figures.
This sort of continuous frieze was usually put only on Ionic-style buildings. Adding
an
Ionic4 frieze to a Doric temple was a striking change meant to attract notice to
its subject. The Parthenon's frieze depicted the Athenian religious ritual in which
a procession of citizens paraded to the Acropolis to present to Athena in her
olive-tree sanctuary a
new robe woven by specially selected Athenian
girls5 (the Panathenaic festival). Depicting the procession in motion, like a
filmstrip in stone, the frieze showed
men riding spirited horses6, women walking along carrying sacred implements, and the
gods
gathering together at the head of the parade7 to observe their human worshippers. As usual in the sculptural decoration on
Greek temples, the Parthenon frieze sparkled with brightly colored paint enlivening
the figures and the background. Shiny metal attachments also brightened the picture,
serving, for example, as the horsemen's reins.
