The Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum

The Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum are unrivalled examples of classical Greek art that have inspired sculptors, artists, poets and writers since their creation in the 5th century BC. This book serves as a superb visual introduction to these magnificent sculptures. The book showcases a series of specially taken new photographs of the different sculptural elements: pediments, metopes and frieze. It captures the vitality of the sculptures in a group, an individual sculpture or an exquisite eye-catching detail, such as the mane of a horse, a human foot, the swish of drapery or a youthful head bowed in thought. An introduction sets the sculptures in their cultural and art-historical context. A brief account of the Parthenon's history is followed by a discussion of the sculptures as architecture and an overview of their subject matter and possible meaning for the people of Ancient Athens. Striking comparative images bring out particular features in the design of the sculptures or