Statue of Athena Parthenos (the Virgin Goddess)

The iconic image of Classical Athens was the Athena Parthenos, the cult statue that once stood within the Parthenon on the Akropolis. Designed by the master sculptor Phidias, the statue was recognized as a masterpiece immediately upon its unveiling in 438 B.C. Made of gold and ivory over a wooden armature and standing nearly forty feet tall, the Athena Parthenos was a major attraction for ancient visitors to Athens and was described by several of them in texts that survive today, although the statue itself was destroyed long ago. A small group of extant Roman-period replicas, several of them found in Athens, corresponds broadly to the description of Phidias's work by Pausanias, a second-century-A.D. travel writer. His observations that "in the middle of her helmet there is placed an image of a sphinx, and on each side of the helmet [that is, the cheek pieces] griffins are represented" (Description of Greece 24.5) find visual expression in the expertly carved marble of this statue. Some de-tails preserved on this and other replicas, such as the pair of pegasi (winged horses) flanking the sphinx, are not mentioned in the surviving texts but probably reflect the cult statue's original appearance. At just under life-size, the statue in Boston attains a higher level of detail and refinement than most replicas, evident in the elaborate treatment of the coiled snakes that form a fringe around her aegis, a protective chest covering with magical properties. Athena's right hand would have held the figure of Nike (Victory); both of her arms, as well as her customary shield and spear, are lost.