The Parthenon,

By Vincent J. Bruno

Book Overview

Modeled on the highly successful Norton Critical Editions, this series offers illuminating introductions to major monuments of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Each volume includes all the necessary materials for the comprehensive study of a work of art: An illustration section showing the complete work of art, details, preliminary studies, and iconographic sources; An introductory essay by the editor; Documents and literary sources; Critical essays from the art-historical literature.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393043738
• ISBN13: 9780393043730
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Timeless Classic Study of a Timeless Classic Monument

This handy, compact volume offers a scholarly, yet readable introduction to the history, architecture, and sculptural decoration of the Parthenon. An introductory essay, "The Parthenon and the Theory of Classical Form," provides an overview of all aspects of this temple and a context for the essays to follow. The history of the Parthenon is discussed in four essays: "The Political Implications of the Parthenon," by Russel Meiggs; "Fifteenth-Century Drawings and Descriptions of the Parthenon," by Charles Mitchell and Ciriaco d'Ancona; an eyewitness account of the bombardment of the Acropolis, 1687 and 1688, by Christoforo Ivanovich; and "The Acquisition of the Elgin Marbles, the Years 1799-1806, by Jacob Rothenberg. The architecture of the Parthenon is discussed in two essays: "The Design and Building Techniques of the Parthenon," by William Bell Dinsmoor; and "Aesthetic Analysis Concerning the Curvature of the Parthenon," by A. Mavrikios. Finally the sculptures of the Parthenon are discussed in two essays: "Athena and Athens in the East Pediment of the Parthenon," by Evelyn B. Harrison; and "Gods and Men in the Parthenon Frieze," by Philipp Fehl. The book is copiously illustrated with black-and-white photographs of the temple and its sculpture (both the friezes and the pediments), maps, plans, and reproductions of historic drawings.