why relief sculpture from inner parthenon frize significant in art history?

Answer 1

Hey Tapu Blue,

One of the most famous + well-loved parts of the
Parthenon is a very long
relief sculpture (sculpture that's carved on
a flat surface, rather than being freestanding) called the Parthenon frieze
(a frieze is a horizontal band of ornament or sculpture)
It's essentially a carved mural
which goes around the top of the outside of the cella,
inside the colonnade that goes around the building

This is an unusual thing to find in a Doric temple, +
the sculpture itself two unusual features
1. It shows the passage of TIME
2. It's the FIRST representation of mortals on temple sculpture

The concept of the sculpture is simple + lovely:
It represents the Panathenac procession
in which the Athenians paraded up to the
Acropolis (where the Parthenon is)
every four years to present a new peplos (or dress) to the
ancient image of Athena that was kept
not in the Parthenon but in another building on the Acropolis,
This is quite appropriate, for you'll
recall that Athena was the inventor + patron of working in wool

But even though the frieze was put in an out-of-the-way place under the eves
there were many people at the time who were uncomfortable w/ the Athenians
putting images of themselves on a temple along w/ images of the gods

(We then looked at a number of slides of the Parthenon Frieze)

The procession begins on the west end
where the riders are busy w/ last minute preparations
The procession then picks up speed +
goes up both north + south sides toward the East end,
where it ends over the door to the cella
The horses + riders gallop energetically
then things slow down a bit + become more dignified
w/ heroes, maidens, elders, youths carrying water jars
musicians + folks leading sacrificial animals
And then at last, the gods, seated on the east end over the door