SALOON.] 
GREEK SCULPTURES. 
117 
some so entirely destroyed that it was in vain to attempt their restora¬ 
tion. Those which were capable of repair were committed to the 
hands of Mr. Thorwaldsen, and in uniting the broken fragments, and 
restoring the parts of them that were deficient, that eminent artist has 
shown the greatest care and sagacity. 
The pediment at the north side of the room is taken from the western 
end of the temple; it contains ten figures, and it is supposed that there 
was originally one more, who was stooping down to assist the fallen 
warrior, who is w y ounded, at the feet of Minerva. The subject is sup¬ 
posed to be the contest between the Greeks and Trojans for the body of 
Patroclus. Ajax, assisted by Teucer and Diomed, endeavouring to 
recover the body, Hector, Paris, and iEneas to seize it. 
Of the figures which adorned the other pediment only five now re¬ 
main, and the loss of the rest is the more to be lamented, as the sculp¬ 
tures of this eastern end are of a much higher character than those of 
the western. From the few figures which are still spared to us, it appears 
that the subject of this picture w r as similar to that of the other pediment, 
modified only by the taste and skill of the artist, perhaps the expedition 
of Hercules and Telamon against Troy. 
At the ends of the room are casts of the metopes of the old temple 
at Selinus, which are considered some of the earliest specimens of 
Greek art; they represent Hercules and the Cercopes, or two thieves 
of Ephesus ; Perseus, assisted by Pallas Athene, killing the Gorgon 
Medusa, out of whom leaps Pegasus ; a female divinity wdio has killed 
one of the giants; and a figure in a biga attended by two others on 
horseback. Presented by Samuel Anyell , Esq. 
ELGIN SALOON *. 
As many of the sculptures in this Room have been referred to, in 
various publications, by the numbers with which they w r ere marked in 
their former situation, those numbers have been retained; but, to faci¬ 
litate a reference from the Synopsis to the marbles, a fresh set of 
numbers, adapted to their present disposition, has been added in 
red. The original numbers are subjoined to the descriptions. 
Those which have the letter A prefixed refer to such articles as were 
originally placed in the room then denominated the Fourteenth. 
The objects themselves are described in the following order: — 
1. The Metopes. 
2. The Frieze. 
3. The Pedimental Sculptures. 
4. Miscellaneous objects, statues, inscriptions, &c. 
1. The Metopes. 
* All the articles in this room, except a few which are particularly specified, 
belonged to the Earl of Elgin. 
In this room ar^ placed two models of the Parthenon at Athens, made by R. C. 
Lucas ; one exhibits the condition in which this temple appeared after the bom - 
bardment by the Venetian general, Morosini, in a.d. 168 /; the other the same 
edifice restored. 
G 
