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The
Parthenon is no doubt an exceptional monument, first of all, on account of
the standard of its
architecture (the Doric order has attained perfection) and because of its
ornamentation: the Doric frieze as well as the Ionic frieze, the three
types of sculptures, on the round, low-relief and high-relief, are to be
found all together on the monument. Moreover., the frieze of the Parthenon
is rich in information about the way of life of the Athenians in the Vth
century B.C. The Parthenon firmly asserts its political role, it
symbolizes the power of Athens and glorifies democracy.
As well, one can
wonder about the present state of the temple and about the fact that most
of the sculptures have been dispersed abroad or have been lost.
The
Parthenon had remained undamaged until the end of the Roman empire. In the
Vth century, Theodose II had the statue of Athena removed to
Constantinople and in the VIth century, the temple became a church, then a
mosque in 1480. In1687, the Turks transformed it into a powder magazine; a
Venitian mortar shell blew up the monument during the siege of the town.
Then, the sculptures began to be plundered. Lord
Elgin, the
ambassador of Great Britain in Contantinople from 1799 to 1802, managed to
obtain from the Ottoman Empire which ruled over Greece, the permission
“to remove a few blocks of stones with some inscriptions and figures on
them.”. Thus, he had the largest part of the most magnificent sculptures
removed from the Parthenon and shipped to England: 17 statues from the
pediments, 56 slabs of the Ionic frieze( out of 115) and 15 metopes (out
of 92) of the Doric frieze of the Parthenon. They were stored in bad
conditions which damaged them; the British government purchased them, and
since, they have been exhibited in the British Museum under the name of
“Elgin marbles”. Nearly two centuries later, Melina Mercouri, the
Minister of the National Trust in Greece, has been demanding the return of
these to his country. The number of friends in favour of the restitution
of the Frieze to Greece has constantly been increasing and societies in
favour of this return have been created, (a new monument on the Acropolis
has been provided for this purpose).
Nonetheless, some sculptures have been definitely lost (only 94 slabs out
of a total of 115 of the Ionic frieze), but we have an idea of what they
looked like, thanks to *J.Carrey’s surveys, which he made on the
premises, in 1674, at the time when the Parthenon was still well preserved
(before the explosion).
*(
a French draughtsman who was accompanying the French Ambassador in his
visit to Athens). |
