Archaic Athena
Archaic Athena
3D
Published 2021-05-25T05:42:35+00:00
The Athena from the western pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, Greece.
This statue of the goddess Athena stood at the center of the pediment on the west end of the temple of Aphaia. There were two groups of men fighting on either side of her. Similiar to the east pediment, the subject was the Trojan War with the warriors from Aegina being emphasized.
This Athena and the warriors beside her can be stylistically dated to the late Archaic Age of sculpture in ancient Greece.
She is essentially a kore transformed into a warrior goddess. She stands frontally, the classic smile on her face, and wearing an elaborate stylized chiton and himation. Her aegis is draped around her shoulders and hangs down long behind her. She holds a shield and would have held a spear. She wears a helmet.
When she was new she would have been richly painted and probably had metal decorations. A partial color reconstruction shows that her aegis was painted with detailed and colorful scales pattern. Her aegis was also edged with snakes. There were more patterns painted on her chiton and the base below the plume on the helmet. Very likely there was more color and patterns elsewhere.
Culturally modern audiences and most scholars are surprised by the rich polychomy. Traditionally ancient Greek and Roman sculpture were assumed to be simply white (or whatever color the stone that was used). Only after examples with visible polychromy were found did people begin to understand that rich colors had been important to ancient viewers.
While polychromy was a finishing touch to bring life to statues, in instances like this pediment statue, it was also important for helping viewers from the ground to more easily see and understand her.
Today she stands at the Glyptothek in Munich, Germany. Much of the sculpture that was part of the temple of Aphaia was recovered and eventually brought to the museum. Originally most of the sculpture was restored. Over time debates about historical truth and authenticity led to most of the restorations being removed. Viewers have come to appreciate ancient sculptures in their unrestored condition.
This particular model is patterned after a mostly restored version of the Athena minus the spear, snakes and other smaller details.
For more information about the pediment sculptures, check out the link to the entry at Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Aphaea#Pedimental_sculptures
Another interesting resource about the temple and the sculptures can be read (and downloaded for free with registration) at Academia:
https://www.academia.edu/39953302/The_Sculptures_of_the_Temple_of_Aphaia_on_Aigina_in_their_Contemporary_Context
| Date published | 25/05/2021 |
| Title | Athena from the West Pediment of the Temple of Aphaia - West 1 |
| Date | 1828 |
| Dimension | 168 centimeters |
| Accession | West 1, inventory number 74 |
| Period | Late Archaic Age, approximately 500 B.C.E. |
| Medium | Parian Marble |
| Credit | unknown |
| Record | https://arachne.uni-koeln.de/arachne/index.php?view[section]=uebersicht&view[layout]=objekt_item&view[caller][project]=&view[page]=15&view[category]=overview&search[data]=ALL&search[mode]=meta&search[match]=similar&view[active_tab]=overview&search[constraints]=aphaia |
| Place | The Glyptothek |
