The Hope Athena sculpture: Greek patronage, style, and cultural significance

¶ … Athena Sculpture

The Hope Athena

Sculpture History

According to the Greek mythology, the people that resided in a place called Attica (Greece) derived the name to the current, capital city of Greece (Athens) in honor of the Goddess Athena. People from Athens built a brilliant temple on the Acropolis, which they then called the Parthenon. The word 'Parthenos' stands for maiden when translated into Greek. An ancient myth stated that the gods established a decree that the goddess Athena was supposed to remain single and virgin. The myth is has been proven true as its perceptions realistically happened. The Hope Athena sculpture was excavated together with another statue (Hygeia) in the year 1797, in the port of Rome at Ostia (Murrin 2007). Thesis- The Hope Athena is a sculpture is a representation of ultimate impersonation, predictability and innovation towards Greek history. The assumption underlain by the sculpture's stylistic nature is depictive of the issues of patronage, visual portrayal and subjective Greek themes.

Display and Style

The Hope Athena sculpture has perspective representations from its display and addition artifacts attached to it. The goddess figure displays a cultural exhibit of the historic attributes of the Greek. Similarly, its outward expression towards its viewers is dependent in defining the characterized presentations it displays. According to Palagia et al., the Greek people due to humane condition that was portrayed in counterpoints exponentially valued the existence of the gods' sculpture. The physical display of goddess Athena instigated worship practices that revolutionized the Athenian status and insured the endurance of identity and race. It was to bring favor among the people, though other rituals were conducted at the presence of such sculptures (Palagia et al. 50).

The statue of Hope Athena is a classical art being a Roman copy of Greek originality. It is widely known Hope-Farnese Athena, named after Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA's) sculpture, which was once owned by Thomas Hope; and the other fair version in Naples, which came from the princely Farnese family (Baker 24).

Classically, the Hope Athena sculpture stands out facing forward with signature armor; the aegis that included a gorgon's head made using ivory in the middle and its fringes fashioned of snakes. She wears an elaborate helmet decorated with sphinx in the middle and Pegasos constitutes the other side of it. There is an outstretch of the right arm, whereby its holds a Nike representation (Pope 16). The symbol depicts the characteristic of victory as a goddess. Her left arm on the other side holds the rim of the shield she carries with her while supporting the hand on a lance. The centre of the shield is decorated with the image of the scene of a battle between the Giants and Olympian gods, the rim of the shield contained details of a fight that was between the Greeks and the amazons. Between the goddess and the shield, lies a coiled snake, which is made of gold.

In the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) display room, the statue stands on the far end of the Parthenon's inner room surrounded on three sides by a two -- story Doric colonnade. A shallow pool of water is situated directly in front of the sculpture with its image often reflected from the water. On top of its large size, statue of Athena attracts attention because of gold and ivory used to sculpture it.

In addition to its size, Athena's statue would have been arresting because of its use of gold and ivory. Sculptor Phidias used gold and ivory and created an eye-catching effect. Instead of carving small-scale images using ivory and then adding gold accents, he established a technique that allowed him to bend the ivory and then used the bent pieces to create a large-scale image. Using this technique, he rendered the flesh of the statue in ivory and then used gold veneer for dressing and armor: her clothing and aegis shine in gold. Athena's arms, feet, and face appeared in the bright white of ivory. The face has inlaid stones for the eyes giving it added realism. The sculpture is built around a wooden core under which lies a base made of dark blue and limestone. The base was as well adorned with scenes so descriptive: Gilded figures depicting the birth of Pandora with 20 other Greek gods and goddesses surrounding her (Quinones 281).

The Hope Athena was to the Greek more than a sculpture in a sanctuary. The fifth-century Greek historian Thucydides reports that Pericles, the Greek general and overseer of construction on the Acropolis, viewed the gold of the Parthenos as a form of a treasury that could be used by the city in times of emergency. This indicates that the statue was taken as part of the city's wealth and thus was treated as an economical and artistic resource.

Conclusion

The classic statue of Hope Athena (Pallas Athena) was considered one of the most significant Olympian deities according to the ancient Greek mythology and religion. Athena was a deity constituting various functions and attributes, the most common being a goddess of war. Never the less, she was also a goddess of peace and wisdom vastly known for her generosity and compassion. Athena was a patron of art and crafts to the Greeks especially in spinning and weaving. Panathenaea, a Greek festival, was considered Athena's most celebrated festival that was annually celebrated at Athens. This festival included athletics and musical contests, poem recitations, and sacrifices were offered for religious reasons. Richly embroidered peplos was carried at the end of the festivities in a grand procession; this was taken to the Acropolis as a token of appreciation to Athena.