the Earl of Elgin's Pursuils in Greece. 21! 



such success, that he has brought to England from the 

 ruined temples Ht Athens, from the modern walls and forti- 

 fications, in which many fragments had been used as so many 

 blocks of stone, and from excavations made on purpose, a 

 greater quantity of original Athenian sculpture, in statues, 

 alti and bassi relicvi, capitals, cornices, frizes, and columns, 

 than exists in any other part of Europe. 



Lord Elgin is in possession of several of the original me* 

 topes from the Temple of Minevva. These represent the 

 battles between the Centaurs and Lapithse, at the nuptials 

 of Pirithous. Each metope contains two figures, grouped 

 in various attitudes; sometimes the Lapithae victorious, 

 sometimes the Centaurs. The figure of one of the Lapithae, 

 who is lying dead and trampled on by a Centaur, is one 

 of the finest productions of the art; as well as the group 

 adjoining to it, of Hippodamia, the bride, carried off by the 

 Centaur Eurytion ; the furious style of whose galloping, in 

 order to secure his prize, and his shrinking from the spear 

 that has been hurled after hiin, are expressed with prodi- 

 gious animation. They are all in such high relief, as to 

 seem groupes of statues ; and they are in general finished 

 with as much attention behind as before. They were ori- 

 ginally coiuinued round the entablature of the Parthenon, 

 and formed ninety-tvvo groupes. The zeal of the early 

 Christians, the barbarism of the Turks, and the explosions 

 which took place when the temple was used as a gun-pow- 

 der magazine, have demolished a very large portion of 

 them ; so that, with the exception of those preserved by 

 lord Elgin, it is in general difficult to trace even the out- 

 line of the original subject. 



The frize, which was carried along the top of the walls 

 of the cell, offered a continuation of sculptures in low re- 

 lief, and of the most interesting kind. This frize, being 

 unbroken by triglyphs, had presemed much more unity of 

 subject than the detached and insulated groupes on the rae- 

 topesofthe peristyle. It represented the whole of the solemn 

 procession to the Temple of Minerva during the Panathenaic 

 festival : many of the figures are on horseback ; o.thers are 

 about to mount : some are in chariots ; others on foot : 

 oxen, and other victims, are leading to sacrifice : the nymphS' 

 called Canephorae, Skiophorae, &c. are carrying the sacred 

 offerings in baskets and vases ; priests, magistrates, war- 

 riors, Sec. &c. forming altogether a scries of most interest- 

 ing figures, in great variety of costume, armour, and atti- 

 tude. Some antiquaries, who have examined this frize 

 with minute attention, seem to think it contained por- 

 O i traits 



