Three Goddesses from the Parthenon’s East Pediment
Pheidias (Phidias)
Dated 438-432 B.C.E.
High Classical Greek sculpture
Pentelic marble
The East Pediment portrayed the miraculous birth of the goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus.
Olympian Triad: The figures are the Olympian deities Hestia (seated left), Dione, and her daughter, Aphrodite (luxuriously reclining).
Wet Drapery:
Heavy, deeply curved → drape
Dumped in water
They didn’t want to show goddesses fully nude. But we can see their breasts. So to show their female body, they dipped their bodies into water.
The defining technique is the "wet drapery" style, often called the Phidian style, which masterfully renders the heavy marble robes as sheer, clinging fabric. This cloth simultaneously obscures and reveals the sophisticated anatomy beneath it, demonstrating the sculptor's extraordinary ability.
Mother and Daughter Relationship: One figure is resting over another.
Fragmented body → just the torso → classical beauty
Polychrome - originally painted
The marble was not originally monochrome white. It was finished with extensive polychromy (paint). Scientific analysis confirms the use of pigments like Egyptian Blue and purple, which were applied to create elaborate figurative designs on the carved textiles, suggesting the marble carving was a framework designed to be completed by painting.
Idealized naturalism
No one is looking at their backs. But still they are very detailed. Even the butts are curved and detailed.
Pediment’s Audience:
Maybe not humans because we can’t see at the top - the pediment.
Maybe it was for “divine” audience.