A catalogue of sculpture in the Department of ... - Warburg Institute

WEST PEDIMENT OF PARTHENON. 119the north-west angle of the pediment, after taking downa Turkish house built against the columns. The lowerpart of a female figure Q may also have been found onthis spot.After the Acropolis passed into the possession of theGreek government, theground round the Parthenon waspartly cleared of its ruins, and this led to the discovery,in 1835, of the crouching male figure V and of manyfragments, among which are remains of the horses loweredby Morosini. The sculptures removed by Lord Elginare exhibited in combination with casts of the remainsnow at Athens. The description that follows begins fromthe left or northern angle of the pediment.304 A. Ilissos or Kephissos.— This figure, reclining in the angleof the pediment, is universally admitted to be a Eiver-god,(cf.the description by Pausanias (v., 10, 7) of the pediment ofthe temple of Zeus at Olympia). The figure is popularlyknown as the Ilissos, but it may represent the AthenianKephissos. According to Brunn's topographical scheme,it is a less familiar Kephissos, near Eleusis.This figureappears not to have suffered much since Carrey drew it.It was still in the pediment in Stuart's time, but hadbeen thrown down at the date of Lord Elgin's mission.The body, half reclined, rests on the left arm, over whichis the end of an himation, which falls behind the backin undulating lines, and is drawn up to the right knee.As the head and most of the right arm are wanting, theiraction must be a matter of conjecture ;the general motionof the figure seems to indicate the moment of suddentransition from repose to action, and would be consistentwith the supposition that the head was turned towardsthe central group, watching the momentous issue of thecontest, and that the Eiver-god was in the act of rising.In that case his right hand may have been drawingforward the end of his himation over his right knee