Elliott Yancy
Caroline Johnson
Alex Ortiz
The Propylaia
The Propylaia is the monumental gateway into the Athenian Acropolis. Mnesikles was chosen to build the Propylaia, even though he never got the chance to complete it, because of the start of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Spartans. Mnesikles was supplied with a lot of money to build it, and he set off to do so in 437 BC. The Propylaia was made of pentelic marble and had a combination of Doric and Ionic elements. It had Doric columns on the outside, and ionic ones on the inside. It was thought “unseemly” to place the two different types of columns on one Facade. The two main columns on the outside have a big space between them so that the chariots and animals could enter through a massive ramp attached to it. On both sides of the central ramp there are stairways for pedestrians to use, preventing traffic. It also contained the conventional Greek illusion of symmetry, by building it on different levels and having darker shades of stone. The Propylaia was built on the west, because that was the only accessible side from the plateau where the Acropolis sits. The northwest side of the Propylaia was the only side that was ever fully finished. It was used as a pinakotheke (picture gallery) during Roman times where paintings on wooden panels from some of the major artists of that time were displayed. They do not know if this is the original purpose that Mnesikles designed the northwest wing to be or not, however it is the first structure built for the purpose of displaying works of art. And it is the “forerunner of our modern museums” (Gardener’s Art pg 154) On the porch, located at the end of one of the stairways, stood a bronze statue of Athena. The statue was huge and could be seen from sea. The porch “had the first close-up view of the Parthenon” (Connolly pg 64)
[Akropolis of Athens (Greece) from the German 1891 encyclopedia Joseph Kürschner (editor): “Pierers Konversationslexikon”. Pierers Konversationslexikon. Siebente Auflage. Mit Universal-Sprachen-Lexikon nach Prof. Joseph Kürschners System. Union. (published by) Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft in Stuttgart, 1891. herausgegeben von (edited by) Joseph Kürschner]
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