breathing life into stone
Athena Parthenos, Roman Copy (1st-2nd C. CE), Louvre, Paris, France
Part of the Louvre’s antiquities collection, Athena Parthenos, also called Athena of the Necklace, is a Roman copy after the original which stood in the Parthenon in Athens. The statue dates to the 1st-2nd century CE and is made of parian and pentelic marble. The original statue by Phidias, dated 438 BCE, was a 36-foot colossus constructed of a wooden frame sheathed in ivory and gold. It stood inside the Parthenon in Athens. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, was the Greek goddess of wisdom, war and crafts. The Parthenon was built in her honor.
