Main entry:

Lagerlöf, Margaretha Rossholm, 1943- author.

Title & Author:

The sculptures of the Parthenon : aesthetics and interpretation / Margaretha Rossholm Lagerlöf.

Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2000]

Description:

viii, 204 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 22 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-198) and index.
I. Approach. The Parthenon -- familiar and alien. The temple on the hill -- II. Analysis. Depiction. Vision and image. The frieze as perceptual image. The pediment as perceptual image. Visual Narrative. The frieze as visual narrative. The pediment as visual narrative. Symbol. The Parthenon sculptures as symbols. The goddess. Democracy. The fragment -- III. Meaning. The existence of the gods. gods operate: limits and the breaking of boundaries. Plato's similes: an analogy. The paradoxes of art.

Summary:

This generously illustrated book provides a complete overview of current knowledge about the sculptures of the Parthenon and suggests new interpretations of the ancient temple's sculptural creations. Margaretha Lagerlöf steps back from viewing the fragments of the sculptures that remain today to focus more clearly on their meanings in the light of classical Athenean knowledge and society. She considers what the sculptures reveal about the Greek sense of democracy and how they characterize women's lives in a warrior culture. Using Plato's philosophy and the visually oriented similes of his myths, Lagerlöf offers a new decoding of the aesthetic structure of the Parthenon's entire sculptural ensemble. The book compares the sculptures of the pediments to those of the metopes and the frieze, uncovering subtle differences in both the nature and the content of their images. Whereas the pediments represent divine elements, for example, the frieze is seen as the domain of human beings, representing events and also the stage of history when humans no longer have direct access to the presence of the gods. The frieze can be interpreted as an invocation of this presence, a means of regaining closeness with the gods. Using a multifaceted and imaginative approach to the sculptures of the Parthenon, Lagerlöf finds powerful new meaning in them as well as an enhanced appreciation of their Athenian creators. -- From amazon.com.

ISBN:

0300073917 (cloth ; alk. paper)
9780300073911 (cloth ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Plastik
Parthenon (Athens, Greece)
Parthénon (Athènes, Grèce)
Sculpture, Greek Greece Athens.
Sculpture, Greek.
Sculpture grecque Grèce Athènes.
Bauplastik
Fries
Relief
Plastieken.
Parthenon.
Greece Athens.
Acropolis (Athens, Greece) Antiquities.
Athen Parthenon.
Parthenon (Atenas, Grecia)
Escultura griega Atenas (Grecia)

Holdings:

Location: Library main 210470
Call No.: NB91.A7 L2 1999
Status: Available