The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-21

F~urtwansler's KsIna.

W
ter Mitwlrkung Won Ernst II. Fiechter und
Hermann Thiersch herausge Eeben Won
Adolf Furtw i n gler. Nit 1870 Tafeln, 1 karte'
y BeiIagen md AI3 Abbildungen tm Texte. ?
vols, quarto. Munich, 1905.
Die Egineten." brief abstract OF the
above by Adolf Furtwangler) Octave, PIP %
and IL plates. Munich, 1905.
The greatest treasures OF the Munich
Glyptotoek ara of course the sculptures
from Egina. These were u n 1911, IA
the result NJ more or less superficial eNcava-
tons which were made around the now
famous temple in the northeast corner OF
Tile island by the English architect Cock
erell and his German companion, Baron
Halter. They were all in fragments, and in
this condition they were purchased in isi3by
Ludwig /. Of Bavaria, then Crown Prince.
A few years later sixteen Of the figures
five from the eastern pediment and eleven
from re restored in Rome
by Thorwaldsen and Martin Wagner; and in
1928 these, together with all the other frag-
ments found with them, were carried to
Munich, to form the principal ornament OF
the Glyptothek, which was then in process
OF erection.
Since they were placed on exhibition
the restoration Of these sculptures has
been the subject Of much study and dis
cussion. The presence Of but five statues
from the eastern pediment out Of a possible
thirteen, and the large number OF small
fragments arranged along the walls Of the
room in which the two groups are set up
have been sufficient evidence that Thor
waldsen's work was far from exhaustive.
while archeologists have generally agreed
that much Of what lie did was faulty. both
in the grouping and in the attitudes he had
given to certain Of the figures. Vario,s
theoretical attempts at a better restoration
have been made, based principally upon
a study of the smaller fragments in the
Glyptothek. but all Of those have left the
impression that their authors were NAM
pered by insufficiency Of data, and at the
same time there has been the feeling hat
the site itself might still yield the material
for a more satisfactory solution il il were
thoroughly explored. The desire that this
should b done has been not infrequently
expressed, but aside from some tentative
excavations which were made there by the
Greek archie ologist Stats in 1894 the soil
was left practically undisturbed from the
time of Cockerell and Halter until 1901.
when Prof. Furtwangler was commissioned
10 make all tAltusNiNt lN GrliSdtlOu VI
the temple and its surroundings by the
Prince Regent of Bavaria, whose name
has this become actively and permanently
associated with the purchase made by his
father nearly a century ago.
The excavations were begun in the spring
and continued; with unimportant interrupt
tions, until late in the autumn, Furtwangler
having rs assistants f. r. Fiechter, archi-
$500 TI.--- -
for a part of the time Paul Hermann Of the
Dresden Albertinum. During that period
the soil OF the entire enclosure in which
the temple stands was thoroughly turned
over and examined, down TO the native
rock; the ground Immediately surrounding
the boundary wall Of the enclosure was
carefully examined; and such traces OF
buildings elsewhere in the vicinity as could
he supposed to nave any relation to the
temple were investigated. Thu results
OF this one season of exploration are en-
bodied in the two quarto volumes before
us, one OF 5Oi pages. which-happily for
the reader-are richly interpreted with
illustrations; the other of $50 plates. in which
the site itself, the architectural and sculp-
tural remains and the quantities OF smaller
antiquities found are illustrated with a
fuIAess and a beauty of reproduction which
may we'll serve as a model for future exca-
yators. or publishers Of excavations. 1t il
a pleasure to record that this sumptuous
book has been published at the expense OF
the Ravarian Academy Of Sciences. May
other learned bodies follow 20 excellent an
example,
Whether these Investigations have brought
about tho much desired solution of the
arrangement OF the statues in the two
pediments is n question which we shall
consider later. independently Of this. how
ever, the results have been surprisingly
rich and varied, and have added so much
TO our knowledge of the sanctuary az to
make what was known before seem infini-
tesimal by comparison. The architecture |
material unearthed. added TO what was
already above ground, has enabled DIR
Fiechter to make a restoration of the temple
In which but little is left to conjecture; and
all this material has been ably and con-
servatively treated by him in his chapters
on the temple and the other buildings. On
two points, however, | must take exception
to his conclusions. One is his theory that
the screens between the columns Of the
two ~porticoS were Of wood rather than
metal. His arguments for this (p. 35D are
by no means conclusive, and the effect Of
the wooden screens shown in his perspective
Of the temple Cpl. 38) is certainly far from
convincing. on either aesthetic or practical
grounds; for they are clumsy in appear
ance they combine most ~inharmoniously
with the columns. and whatever their
design, wooden screens would neces-
sarily have been much heavier in con-
struction than metal, 40 that they would
have reduced the amount OF light admitted
10 the interior through the portieres almost
IN n minimum. His assumption that the
slabs Of the metOpes must have been Of
wood ~. 2sl seems equally impractical and
~unconvincing. On the blocks Of the frieze
the face Of the metopes is left rough. and
grooves in the adjoining sides of the
t~riglyphs show that the metopes themselves
must have been separate slabs inserted.
As no fragment Of these, of either marble.
stone, or tcrracotta, was found. he infers
that they must have been of some perisha-
BILE material namely, wood. But it is I'M
likely that in n building otherwise so per-
mancnt in character, erected as late as the