COMPARISON WITH NORTH METOPES

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metopes should also represent the struggles of Centaurs and Lapiths at the marriage of Peirithöos and Deidameia. In their present state the north metopes, so far as they exist at all, are, with one exception, too much disfigured to settle the question definitely by themselves. But to judge from certain drawings that were made in the seventeenth century from some of the central metopes of that series-now entirely lost-it appears that they at least had represented Centaurs (Pl. XII., Figs. a, b, d). It is equally clear from the metopes still in their place on the building towards each end of the north side that they consist largely of female figures. Thus it would seem that the sculptor, while repeating the same subject of Centaurs and Lapiths as on the south side, had reversed his composition in this way, that on the north side the combats of Centaurs and Lapiths occupied the central metopes, while the women and others associated with the marriage, but not yet attacked, were placed on the two sides. That may be regarded as fairly certain. The purpose of the sculptor is obvious. A visitor to the Acropolis of Athens approached the Parthenon from the west, and would see the metopes of the west front first, with its Gigantomachia still identifiable as such. He would then have to choose whether he would pass along by the north or by the south side of the Parthenon, following the metopes as he went on. Whichever side he chose he would find the same subject --the Centauromachia in connection with the marriage of Peirithöos - the same subject on each side, but with the order of the composition inverted. So that, in fact, it was not necessary for the visitor to examine both sides so far as the subject was concerned.

Only one of the north metopes, 32, has been preserved fairly well. There is a cast of it in the Elgin Room (Pl. XI.). It represents two Lapith women, one sitting on a rock, the other approaching her. This metope deserves careful inspection, because, apart from it, we have almost no means of controlling Carrey's drawings of the Lapith women in the south metopes, and of translating, so to speak, his drawings into actual sculpture. If we could do so effectively, we should then be in the same position with regard to them as we are in with regard to his drawings of the Centaurs and Lapiths from the flanks of the south side, brought home by Lord Elgin. Carrey's drawings of these Centaurs and Lapiths indicate the general pose and action of the figures. To a great extent they reflect also the style of the sculpture. But they are hasty sketches, and necessarily do not convey to us the sense of reality and force which strikes us in the actual marbles.

Let us examine this northern metope from the point of view just indicated. The woman on the right is seated on a rock with one foot raised. The nearer foot is broken off, but clearly it has been drawn back as if in excitement. The lowering of the knee and what remains of the leg show this much. The right hand has been raised a little, while the left arm, which is now gone, is known to have been stretched upward in alarm; it is so in a drawing by one of Lord Elgin's artists made when the metope was in better condition. She wears an under chiton of a thin material, which shows on her breast and arms and towards the feet. Over this she has a thick himation wrapped round the legs and falling over the left shoulder. The figure standing before her, obviously

COMPARISON WITH ONE OF THE NORTH METOPES 61

a girl, expresses some alarm in the customary Greek manner by seizing one end of her himation, or mantle, with the left hand, while with the right she clutches the other end of it, and drags it round her back to her right side. She wears a thick chiton, open a little on the right side and girt round the waist. Her right foot is thrown back with the ungainly but true result that the heavy material of the chiton falls straight down from the knee instead of following the bend of the leg. The same effect appears in the seated figure. We are calling attention to these details of drapery because their very heaviness, not to say ungainliness in parts, must, as we think, have been intended as artistic repose and contrast to the display of flesh, human and equine, in the other metopes. Observe also that the relief is very high. The figures are almost in the round, quite as much so as the Centaurs and Lapiths. Carrey's drawings of the missing women of the south metopes do not in the least convey this impression. We must translate them, so to speak, into high relief of this kind, with its deeply cut, strongly rendered, and heavy masses of folds.

Assuming that the central metopes of the south side had been sculptured for the most part in this massive manner, displaying a prevalence of heavy vertical lines, we can appreciate the purpose of the sculptor in seeking to produce by these means a general effect of repose in the centre in contrast to the varied and often violent action on the two flanks. And this element of contrast is the more obvious when we remark that while the groups on the flanks are all in profile, those of the centre, or most of them, are turned to the front, either fully, as in 19 and 21, or nearly so, as in 20,