Photos of the Ancient Parthenon Elgin Marbles Sculptures

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Photos of the Iconic Ancient Greek Parthenon Elgin Marbles Temple Sculptures from the Parthenon Athens housed at the British Museum. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Ancient Greek Parthenon Elgin Marbles Sculptures

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Photos of The Iconic Ancient Greek Parthenon Marbles or The Elgin Marbles and from the Parthenon on the Acropolis Athens. British Museum, London.

The Parthenon Temple

Dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, the construction of the Parthenon Temple began in 447 BC and was completed in 432 BC. The Parthenon has become the great iconic symbol of Ancient Greece and the Athenian democracy being the high point in the development of the Doric Order. Its temple frieze sculptures are considered to be one of the high points of Greek art.

Lord Elgin Buys the Parthenon Marbles

Between 1801 and 1812 Lord Elgin, British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, paid for the removal and shipping to London of 75 m of the original Parthenon frieze. This comprised of 15 of the Metope panels and 17 of the pediment figures. These were housed in a purpose built gallery was built in the British Museum.

Ancient Greek Temple Sculptures

Greek temples were lavishly decorated with sculpted panels that run along the sides and ends. The Pediment sculptures of the Parthenon depict scenes from the life of the goddess Athena. She is also depicted accompanied by her father Zeus and her brother Hephaistos.

Temple Dedicated to Athena

Athena was the goddess of goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilisation, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

Parthenon Metope Sculptures

The metope panels of the Parthenon depict Lapiths, a pre-Hellenic mythological people from Thessaly. They ar battling with the Centaurs, a mythological creature half man half horse. The scene is probably from the wedding of the king of the Lapiths, Perithoos. The story tells that the Centaurs, who were guests at the wedding, became drunk and a fight broke out during which they tried to carry off the Lapith women. The Centaurs would have represented the long and bitter struggle against the Persian Empire.

Patenon Frieze Sculptures

The Parthenon’s Ionic frieze depict he Panathenaic procession an annual procession of Athenians which ended in the ritual sacrifice of cattle to honour the goddess Athena.

The north and south frieze marbles both show a procession of sixty riders in ranks of 10 men with cattle being led to be sacrificed.

The east frieze shows Athena watching the procession with her father Zeus.

The West frieze shows the preparation of the riders and, apart from two blocks, these are moulds made for Lord Elgin in 1802 of the marble blocks that remained in Athens