ON THE PROGRESS OF SCULPTURE. 459 



composed of pure gold, with a profusion of orna- 

 ments, both painted and in relief; and the latter 

 was also inlaid with ivory, ebony, and gems. A 

 particular description will be found in Pausanias, 

 which is copied with fidelity in the travels of 

 Anacharsis. 



The statue of Minerva was undertaken by 

 Phidias, at the express command of Pericles, in 

 the eighty-third Olympiad, and was completed in 

 the eighty-sixth. This statue was twenty-six 

 cubits in height, equal, according to the tables 

 given by the Abbe Barthelemy, to thirty-nine 

 Parisian feet. 



A short time after the completion of this statue, 

 which was placed in the Parthenon, the talented 

 artist fell a victim to political intrigue, and ended 

 his life in prison, under imputations so injurious to 

 his memory, that they demand a more particular in- 

 vestigation. I have purposely spoken of the dis- 

 grace and death of Phidias, in the most general 

 terms, as a detail of all the circumstances attending 

 them, requires a commentary like that of Bayle, 

 and greatly exceeds the dimensions of our present 

 sketch ; nevertheless, the fate of an artist, who 

 occupies so exalted a position in the annals of 



