Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829 edition. Excerpt: ... and Jupiter of ivory and gold, but he adorned their insignia and pedestals with compositions from the grandest subjects in the poems of Homer and Ilesiod. On the outside of Minerva's shield was the battle of the Athenians and Amazons; on the inside the contest of the gods and giants; on the pedestal was the birth of Pandora. On the throne of Jupiter were the destruction of Niobe's children, the labours of Hercules, the delivery of Prometheus, the garden of the Hesperides, with other incidents of the heroic ages. On the base, the battle of Theseus and the Amazons; on the pedestal an assembly of the gods, the sun and moon in their cars, and the birth of Venus. These compositions excelled whatever had appeared before in beauty, grace, and compass, in the same proportion as Phidias excelled his predecessors; and their numerous repetitions testify the esteem of the ancients, and give us possession of the spirit and character of the works themselves, in friezes, basso-relievos, and painted vases. Minerva received in the assembly of the gods, on the pediment of her temple at Athens, we know from the drawing of it preserved by the Marquis Nanteul. Of the marriage of Pelops and Hippodamia, on the temple of Jupiter at Elis, we may perhaps form some conception from a magnificent painted vase in the British Museum, on which are two quadrigas, and various human figures. The battles of the Athenians with the Amazons and Persians, beheld by assemblies of the gods, in the temples of Minerva and Theseus, and the Propyleum of Athens, together with the frieze lately discovered at Phigaleia, are admirable examples of simplicity and energy. When the states of Greece ceased to be free, they could no longer raise noble temples from the spoils of their enemies, ..
