The Parthenon and its Impact in Modern Times

Fülszöveg

THE PARTHENON
AND ITS IMPACT IN MODERN TIMES
The belief that the Parthenon is the most important
building in the world, the most perfect structure ever to
have been erected, is deeply rooted in contemporary
thought. Yet as an ideological, artistic and architectural
model, the Parthenon is a relatively recent discovery. Be-
fore detailed depictions of it were published in the late
eighteenth century, and even more so before the removal
of the Elgin Marbles to London, the monument was effec-
tively unknown. Its simultaneous elevation to the status of
the ultimate monument of antiquity and the supreme model
for the contemporary world had a profound effect on artis-
tic and architectural creative activity in recent times and, in
conjuction with the liberation of Greece, turned out to be
the starting-point for a long series of restoration projects
and studies. The external form of the Parthenon imprinted
itself on the collective memory of the Western world as an... Tovább

Fülszöveg

THE PARTHENON
AND ITS IMPACT IN MODERN TIMES
The belief that the Parthenon is the most important
building in the world, the most perfect structure ever to
have been erected, is deeply rooted in contemporary
thought. Yet as an ideological, artistic and architectural
model, the Parthenon is a relatively recent discovery. Be-
fore detailed depictions of it were published in the late
eighteenth century, and even more so before the removal
of the Elgin Marbles to London, the monument was effec-
tively unknown. Its simultaneous elevation to the status of
the ultimate monument of antiquity and the supreme model
for the contemporary world had a profound effect on artis-
tic and architectural creative activity in recent times and, in
conjuction with the liberation of Greece, turned out to be
the starting-point for a long series of restoration projects
and studies. The external form of the Parthenon imprinted
itself on the collective memory of the Western world as an
image of "the sublime" in general, and became associated
with the most important ideals. Nowadays, there can be no
doubt that both as a building and as a sumbol the Parth-
enon lies at the foundations of the education of all of us.
Consequently, a view of the monument over time and of
the way in which it has been approached will contribute to
a more profound understanding of the dimensions of Greek
and European civilisation.
The contributors to this volume are as follows: Savas
Condaratos, on the Parthenon as a cultural ideal; Manolis
Korres, on its architecture and its history from antiquity
down to the nineteenth century; Angelos Delivorrias on its
sculptures; Fani Mallouchou-Tufano on descriptions, re-
search and depictions from Cyriacus of Ancona to Frédéric
Boissonas; Panayotis Tournikiotis on its presence in the his-
tory and theory of modern architecture; Stelios Lydakis on
the impact of its sculptures on the sculpture and painting of
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; David van Zanten
on its reconstruction in paintings; Dimitri Filippides on ad-
miration of it on the part of modern Greek society;
Charalambos Bouras on the work of restoration and chang-
ing views of the conservation of monuments, and Alexan-
dras Argyriou on the impact of the Parthenon in modern
Greek literature.
Today, the Parthenon is, once more, in the forefront of
discussion, as a result of the work being done to restore it
and the studies on which that work is based, because of
the demand for the return to Greece of the Elgin Marbles,
and in view of the construction of the New Acropolis
Museum. This, then, seems a suitable time to lay before
Greek and international readers a collection of essays
whose shared subject is the Parthenon but which approach
it from a wide range of new viewpoints. Vissza