BRITISH MUSEUM, Parthenon Marble Pediments

The display of the Eastern pediment culminates with the depiction of the "Birth of Athena from the head of Zeus". This grandiose sculptural group lets you appreciate all of Phidias' mastery in connecting each figure with its neighbor, yet also letting each one shine in its individual glory. The fullness of the bodies' shapes is accompanied by a new sense for human beauty that can be seen in the extreme naturalness of the poses. The knowledge of anatomy paved the way for a soft and expressive language, which will eventually be referred to as "classical".

As I mentioned, inserting figures in the angles of the triangular pediment that were in line with the scene as a whole wasn't very easy. The problem was brilliantly solved in the eastern pediment with the insertion of a chariot being pulled out of the sea by the four horses of Helios, the sun, on the left, and the chariot of Selene, the moon, diving back into the sea on the left. Thus the scene also gained a narrative coherence, with a beginning, development, and conclusion.

Admire the lively rotating motion of the horse's head disappearing into the sea, which suggests the passage of time. The rhythm of the nature and story makes the myth come alive, brings it into the present, and gives it a human aspect made of flesh, feelings, and beauty....