Roman copy of Athena Promachos "Buried by Vesuvius" at the Getty Villa through October 28, 2019

Roman copy of Athena Promachos "Buried by Vesuvius" at the Getty Villa through October 28, 2019.
The original Athena Promachos, "Athena who fights in the front line", was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Pheidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Athena was the tutelary deity of Athens and the goddess of wisdom and warriors. The Athena Promachos was one of the earliest recorded works by Pheidias, erected around 456 BCE. Standing 30 feet tall, the Greek geographer, Pausanias claimed the top of Athena's helmet as well as the tip of her spear could be seen by sailors and anyone approaching Athens from Attica. It is thought to have been a memorial of the Battle of Marathon or the Persians Wars and at one time war trophies were placed around its pedestal. A Roman copy of Athena Promachos in marble recovered from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum was produced between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE.


Image: Athena Promachos Roman copy of 5th century Greek original recovered from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum courtesy of Allan Gluck.

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