III. THE PARTHENON AND ITS SCULPTURES. " It was observed of Phidias, that as a statuary he excelled more in forming gods than men ; a short encomium containing the substance of a /aw^^rzV."— Chandler. Date, Plan, and Construction. The Parthenon, until comparatively modern days, seems to have existed as an almost perfect monument. In 1632 it was described as a temple " entire, and little injured by time." * Randolph, an English writer, about 1675, speaks of it as entire and one of the most glorious buildings in Europe, being of white marble. "The body is 168 feet long by 71 wide ; its total length is 230 feet, and it has 17 pillars on the sides, by 8 at the ends, each 19I feet round about. It is very dark, having only some lights at the east." About this same time valuable drawings ■of the sculptures were made for Nointel, a French ambassador. From the date of these records the destruction has been con- tinuous, until at the beginning of the last century the temple was but a shattered wreck. (Figs. 58, 59.) It was begun in 447 B.C., and was practically completed ten years later. In 438 the great interior ivory and gold statue of Athena was consecrated. Some fragments of building inscriptions, discovered in 1888, show that in 434-3, "the fourteenth year," the works were still in progress, but it is thought that these would only be details of •completion, such as channelling the columns, painting, waxing,
- Courmenin. Tavernier speaks of columns of porphyry and black
marble : he must refer to the interior of the church. G
