Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Parthenon

I found the historical video on the Parthenon to be very interesting and informative. The Parthenon changed ownership many times throughout its long history, and each culture either added or took away something from the Parthenon. The Catholics made it a church and took away the nude sculptures. The Franks added a chimney and made the Parthenon more industrial. All of this culminated in Lord Elgin's removal of sculptures for a museum in Great Britain. The Parthenon lasted from 433 AD to 1683 AD, a very long period of time for a region that suffered from many wars and different takeovers. I recently had the opportunity to visit the recreation of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee. Seeing such a grand building in person, even if only a replica, reveals the expert craftsmanship of the Parthenon that was well above its time. Every detail, from the angles and shadows of the frieze was masterfully planned ahead of time by Pheidias, who supervised the building of the original Parthenon. Pictures can tell one story, but actually experiencing something gives a whole new perspective.



1 comment:

Unknown said...

I think it's really great that in the modern day we are taking such an instance in preserving ancient art. In the past, there really wasn't as big of an emphasis on this. This can be seen in how carelessly the Parthenon was treated. Many native American artifacts were also destroyed when European conquistadors melted them down into gold.