Created by Dr Juan de Lara with the support of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the University of Oxford, LAHP, and the British School at Athens
OUR STORY
THE PARTHENON
The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the divine patron of Athens, on the hills of the Acropolis. It was constructed by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. It was completed in time for the Greater Panathenaea festival of 438/7 BCE. The sculptural decoration was commissioned from the renowned sculptor Phidias and executed by him and his workshop. Its eastern door, which received the morning light, led to a large rectangular chamber that housed a colossal chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena, created by Phidias.
In Parthenon 3D, every element of the temple—from the architectural details to the sculptural program—has been meticulously reconstructed to provide an accurate and immersive experience of the original structure.
Uncertainty analysis of the Parthenon.
A xoanon from the temple of Malphite (Italy). Museo Romano de la Cave.
THE STATUE OF ATHENA
Prior to the Parthenon’s construction at the sacred heights of the Acropolis, the people of Athens had built an ancient sanctuary in honor of their divine protector. Within its walls stood a venerable relic: an aged wooden statue of Athena, rough-hewn and timeworn, said to have fallen from the heavens themselves, a xoanon. But as time passed and the city flourished, a new vision had taken shape. In the year 447, the great statesman Pericles conceived a grand new plan—one that would transform Athens into the crowning glory of Greece, a beacon of civilization for all the world to behold. And at its heart would stand a new temple that unified all Greeks, one unlike any before it: the Parthenon.
For the Parthenon, Pericles commissioned a new statue of breathtaking magnificence, one that would immortalise the goddess in all her divine splendour, whilst still preserving the ancient wooden statue within the sanctuary. This new Athena would appear clad in gleaming gold, radiant and eternal. In her right hand, she would bear Nike, the winged Victory, symbol of triumph. By her side, coiled protectively, would rest Erechtheus, the legendary ruler of Athens, born in the form of a sacred serpent.
Phidias, the greatest sculptor of his age, had been entrusted to craft a masterpiece of divine proportions—a 12-meter colossus made of shimmering gold and gleaming ivory. The cost of the statue almost doubled that of the Parthenon itself.
Phidias had designed the statue with both brilliance and foresight. The gold that adorned Athena’s figure was not fixed permanently but fashioned into removable plaques, allowing them to be taken down if the city ever needed to reclaim its wealth. The sculptor had also perfected an ingenious technique for shaping the ivory—unrolling it, softening it, and molding it into place, before securing it to metal bands built around a wooden core.
Attic relief with the statue of Athena, c. 375-350, NM 3985 (IG II2, 406).
SEEING ATHENA
Frontal view of the cella of the Parthenon as seen from the entrance and the year 430 BCE
Closeup of the chryselephantine statue of Athena by Phidias
Blueprint sheet of the chryselephantine statue of Athena
SOLAR ALIGNMENTS
Twice a year, around April 25th and August 30th, the sun aligned with the long axis of the Parthenon, allowing a beam of light to enter through the eastern doorway and illuminate the statue of Athena. The visual effect would have been awe-inspiring, possibly reinforcing the sacred presence of the goddess within the temple. This solar alignment may have also served a practical function as a timekeeping device, helping to mark key moments in the Athenian calendar, such as the Greater Panathenaia festival, celebrated on the 27/28 of the Attic month of Hekatombaion.
Solar alignment with he chryselephantine statue of Athena, on 30 August at 5.30 AM of 430 BCE.
A FRAGRANT TEMPLE
Temples in ancient Greece often functioned as museums, housing treasures and relics that travellers eagerly documented. Some of these objects were so valuable that they were recorded in annual inventories. In the case of the Parthenon, these inventories list several offerings to the goddess, such as gold wreaths and statues. There were also arms and weapons, and notably a large number of shields. Furniture is also mentioned, including ceremonial couches and thrones. Particularly noteworthy in these lists is the large number of incense burners, suggesting that the temple was a fragrant space where incenses such as myrrh and frankincense were regularly burned.
”Incense burner, wooden core, gold over. (IG II2, 1379 lines 2-3); Incense burner, bronze core, gold over, labelled with an Alpha, weighed with the bronze nails, weight: 3400 dr. (IG II2, 1421 lines 50-53); Incense burner, bronze core, gold over, labelled with a Beta, weight: 3170 dr. IG II2, 1421 lines 54-56 ; Silver incense burner (IG II2, 1425 line 134); Silver incense burner, bronze core, having a bronze stand, weight 1928 dr. (IG II2, 1413 lines 2-3); Silver incense burner which Aristokritos of Anakaia dedicated, weight: 2330 dr. (IG II2, 1412 line 14) [and many more].
The Treasures of the Parthenon and ErechtheionDiane Harris Cline
POOL OF WATER
It may surprise us all to find out that the parthenon had a pool of water in its interior. This was built in X, so it was an aftertought, and probably only after the temple of Zeus in Olympia was finished. In Olympia Phidias had conceived a walled area that was surroundign a pool of oil. It seems the Athenians were drawn to do something similar, but why? Pausanias had set that it was for humidity regulator. In 1982 however Hamill came up with an experiment to test the validity of this theory and contested it. Water and oil had not much effect on the ivory or the glues, and if so, minimal. In 1982, Prof Boardman came up with an enticing theroey. The water pool acted as a mirror and reflected light onto the statue
Side elevation diagram of the Parthenon showing the ideal solar altitude angle (α1) for impact on the pool, and the reflection angle (α2)
View of the pool area in front of the statue of Athena
Final Render and 3D mesh of the Parthenon
Final Render and 3D mesh closeup of the statue of Athena
Credits
A Production by Delara
Created by Dr Juan de Lara
Supervised by Jeremy Tanner and Andrew Bevan.
Made using Blender, LuxCoreRenderer, Unreal Engine, Photoshop, QGIS3 and Stellarium.
These images are released under CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International).
The author Juan de Lara (© Delara) must be credited.
Special thanks to:
Mark Wilson-Jones, Mark Lake, Vasileia Manidaki, Rob de Lara, Kostas Papadopoulos, Seif El Rashidi, Eva Mol, Julia Shaw, Stephen Quirke, Ulrike Sommer, Kenneth S. Lapatin, Margaret M. Miles.
AS SEEN ON
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Total target £20,000
