Horses, with man fastening sandal

Parthenon West Frieze, 442-438 B.C.E.

The West frieze of the Parthenon consists of six slabs of Pentelic marble with relief sculpture. Two of these slabs are in the British Museum, while the remaining slabs were removed from the Parthenon in the 1990s to undergo laser cleaning. Today these cleaned slabs are displayed in the Acropolis Museum and a stone cast of the frieze has been installed on the Parthenon. The west frieze is possibly the best preserved section of the entire Ionic frieze that once decorated the exterior of the cella.

This cast shows the slab closest to the southwest corner of the frieze where the portrayal of the Panathenaic procession begins. There is an intimacy felt between us and the young man who intently laces up his sandal. He is unaware that we are observing him, which makes the scene all the more honest and realistic.

This depiction fits appropriately into the overall design of the West frieze, but it would have been out of place in the metopes for the latter portray scenes of battle. Here, all is quiet as the young man faces to the right, with his sandaled foot resting on a rock, in contrast to the horses which face to the left. We as the spectators understand that what we are witnessing is the beginning of an event that has both great importance and historical significance.

R.R.