Editing Athena Parthenos (section)

==Construction==
[[File:Account of the construction of Athena Parthenos by Phidias.jpg|alt=Inscription grecque sur bloc de marbre blanc|thumb|left|Fragment of the accounts relating to the realization of the statue of ''Athena Parthenos'', IG I<sup>3</sup> 458, [[Acropolis Museum|Museum of the Acropolis of Athens]].]]

According to Pausanias and [[Plutarch]],{{refn|group=N|In his Life of Pericles, Plutarch specifies, however, that the name of Phidias is engraved on the basis of the statue.}} the statue is not by Phidias alone but of a team of craftsmen representing several trades, Phidias supervising all the decoration work of the Parthenon.<ref>Richard David Barnett, Ancient ivories in the Middle East, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1982, p. 63</ref>{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=110}}<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 270-271.</ref> The location of the workshop where the statue was made is unknown. It could have been on the acropolis, at the eastern end, under what was later to become the old Acropolis museum. However, given the cost of precious materials (gold and ivory), it could also have been installed elsewhere, at the foot of the sacred rock, far from the comings and goings of the main site and its dust.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=110}}

The statue was likely made of "spare parts", perhaps first mounted in the workshop, then dismantled, moved to the Parthenon, after its completion, and installed in its final place.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=110}} The remaining accounts make it possible to estimate the cost of the work at 704 [[Attic talent|talents]], or the equivalent of 200 [[Triremes]] (the city's naval power base). However, the statue was considered an ultimate financial reserve, the gold decorating it could be melted down if necessary.<ref>Holtzmann 2003, p. 109-112.</ref> According to the various ancient authors,{{refn|group=N|[[Thucydides]] and [[Plutarch]] state 40 talents, [[Ephorus of Cyme]] covered by [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus of Sicily]] rather say 50 talents and [[Philochorus]] is very precise with 44 talents. (Lapatin 2005, p. 270).}} the weight of gold used was between 40 and 50 talents, or between 1 and 1.3 tons of gold. By way of comparison, the annual toll of the "allies" of the League of Delos at the time amounted to 28 talents. On another note, this gold would have represented for the city of Athens more than a year's salary for 10,000 skilled workers, more than a year's pay for 10,000 [[hoplites]] or 10,000 [[Trireme|rowers]] in the war fleet.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 270.</ref> The quantity and cost of ivory are more difficult to determine. It was needed for the face, arms, and feet of the statue, as well as for the [[gorgon]]'s head depicted on the goddess's chest. It is less certain that ivory could have been used for the rendering of snake scales. On an inscription of 440-439 BCE there is recorded the purchase of an unknown amount of elephant ivory for the sum of 24 talents and 743 silver [[Ancient drachma|drachmas]]. However, it is difficult to know if this constituted all the necessary material.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 271.</ref>

The statue was mounted on a rot-proof wooden frame, probably cypress. A decree of the Athenians thanks the people of the [[Karpathos|Eteocarpathians]] for providing them with a large quantity of cypress wood. This wood came from a forest dedicated to [[Apollo]] and therefore could only be exploited for religious purposes. In the Parthenon's soil is still visible the hole (75.5&nbsp;cm by 54&nbsp;cm and 37&nbsp;cm deep) where the central beam was planted. Around this "mast", a whole frame in the same cypress wood gave shape to the statue. The city had the technique and craftsmen capable of this work with its many marine carpenters.{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111}}<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 272-273.</ref> To this reinforcement were fixed, probably nailed, gold plates. It is not possible to know if they had been melted (and the moulds preserved, perhaps in case of repair) or hammered ([[Sphyrelaton]] technique).{{sfn|Holtzmann|2003|p=111}}<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 274-275 and 278.</ref> Ivory work was much more difficult, even if the statue of ''Athena Parthenos'' was not the first Greek statue to use this imported material. [[Oppian]] gives valuable indications of the techniques used. The necessary surfaces (face, arms, and feet) far exceeded the size of elephant tusks. However, these are made up of thin layers of superimposed ivory that can be "unrolled like a roll of papyrus". The next problem was to give shape to these long blades. It was the work of specialists able to soften the material and then mould it.{{refn|group=N|Ancient authors propose various techniques. Pausanias describes heating. Plutarch talks about soaking in beer. [[Dioscorides]] suggests boiling for six hours in a mandrake decoction. In the 12th century, [[Theophilus Presbyter|Theophilus]], in his Lumen Animae, listed five different techniques: boil in wine, soak in oil, coat in skin, heat and finally soak in vinegar. Recent experiences have shown that the technique of soaking in vinegar works. (Lapatin 2005, p.276-277).}} The ivory plates thus created had the flexibility of the wax plates used for moulding bronze statues, a technique that Phidias mastered perfectly.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 272 and 275-278.</ref> If the gold plates were probably directly nailed to the frame, the more fragile ivory was certainly fixed more delicately with dowels or glued with fish glue.{{refn|group=N|This was the case for the gates of the temple of Asclepias in Aegina for which accounts were kept. (Lapatin 2005, p. 278).}} The joints between ivory plates would most certainly have been masked in the drop shadows and by jewellery (bracelets and necklace). The ivory then had to be polished, most often with [[Angelshark|squatine]] skins (type of shark). Finally, the ivory was painted: the goddess was "made-up", using red pigment on her cheeks and lips as well as on her nails. It is also very unlikely that the gold was left as is; it would likely have been inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones that reflected the light.<ref>Lapatin 2005, p. 278-279.</ref>

The statue must have been completed in 438 BCE when it was consecrated and installed in the Parthenon. Gold and ivory that had not been used were then offered for sale.{{sfn|Boardman|1985|p=110}}