The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-24
ANCIENT ATHENS.
Prof Harris's lecture at the Art School
The Temples Of Ancient Greece.

Mr.. W. T. Harris, of Concord gave running
commentary, last evening, before the Art So
ciety, upon Greek sculpture, basing bis COM
ments upon series Of stereoscopic views which
he presented The time was mainly devoted to
the critical study and analysis of the pediments
of the Parthenon, the temple of Minerva and of
the temple of Theseus. The latter is the best
preserved monument at this time of the splendor
of ancient Athens It's sides and pediments
were adorned with painted sculptures, many of
which, though much injured, still remain, and set
forth incidents in the lives of Theseus and Her
cules. The temple was built to inclose the
gigantic skeleton of Theseus, which Greek myth
recognizes as having been found on an island 476
B. c.
In contrast with these low, broad doric Greek
temples, both less than sixty feet high, Mr..
Harris exhibited q piece of romantic architect
ure-the recently completed cathedral of
Cologne, 504 feet high, with its two towers.
standing like a gigantic figure lifting its hands
TO heaven. Trinity Church would go inside OF
it. with 200 feet to spare, and three of the In
dianapolis churches. It's massive foundation is
sixty feet deep. The Grecan temple was grave:
Il was designed to cap hill II seemed to pull
down TO the earth, while the gothic, by its spires,
appealed to the heavens, and its light pillars
The one style is of the earth, the other of the
heaven-a prayer In stone
A very critical analysis was next made of the
great works Of Phidias-the sculptures on the
eastern and western pediments of the Parthenon,
the birth of Athene on the EASTERN and the con-
test between Poseidon and Athene for the pos
session of Greece upon the western. These two
pediments give us hfty figures from the
hand of Phidias himself, under his immediate
direction. They were IN their places when
Wheeler visited Athens in 1916 but the temple
was thrown down in 1854 by the explosion of
bomb in the Turkish powder magazine Moro
soni broke many of the figures of the pedimentin
attempting tG remove them, and, at the beginning
of the present century, Lord Elgn dsmantled
most of the Parthenon of its remaining sculpt-
ures, and these. under the name of the "Elgin
Marbles, now form the most priceless treasure
of the British Museum. Most of these were
shown, and their artistic merits and probable
position in the pediment discussed by Mr.. Har
ris The lecturer characterized the statues of
Jupiter Zeus, in the temple of Delphi, and that
of Pallas Athene as the greatest works of Phidias
and of the sculptors art, though both are only
known to the modern world by copies.
The Chrysele Plantine statue of Athene
was, as its name indicates of ivory, covered
with gold with the statue of victory in the right
hand, the spear in the left, was shown as is
known to us by statuettes made by its ad-
mirers when in its place and glory. Also, a
great statue of Athens so high that it could be
seen towering above the temple and far out to
sea. To bring out the great power of Phidias,
as shown in the grouping of the figures in the
'Birth of Athene." and her battle with the
gods, the restoration and groupings of the
various artists were given. who subordinated
harmony TO symmetry, as in the modern COM
parison pictures" and mantle decorations.
The lecture closed with comments on the
spirit and purpose of Greek art, and series of
representations of the group of Niobe with her
children fleeing from the arrows of Apollo.
There was an attentive ana appreciative au-
dience, sitting for nearly two hours in the semi
darkness, composed of the lovers of art for its
own sake, and of Mr. Harris's Interpretation of
Greek mythology.