Art History5: Greek Art III (High Classical Period-- Parthenon)

Parthenon

-ideal solution to the Greek architect's quest for perfect proportions in Doric temple design

-short ends have 8 columns and long sides have 17 (can be expressed algeraically as x=2y+1 -- 17=2(8) +1 )

-with harmonious design and mathematical precision of the sizes

-but also have irregularity: for examples:


1. the stylobate (the base) curves upward at the center on the sides and both facades


2.the columns lean inward slightly


--->contrapposto (shifting of weight) in architecture












East and West Pediments




left hand side of the East Pediment:
the horses of Helios (the Sun) emerge from the pediment's floor, suggesting the sun rising above the horizon at dawn.





right hand side of the east pediment: the statues conform perfrectly to the slope, and the thin and heavy folds of the garments reveal the body forms nicely