Preview
Creation Year
May 1905
Image ID
W.064
Alternate Identifier
B22.064
Subcollection
W: Attica, Crete, Santorini
Abstract
The Athenian Treasury is the most famous one in delphi today, being reconstructed by French archaeologists in 1906, and is the only fully reconstructed building in Delphi today. It was made with the spoils of the battle of Marathon (480 BCE), although the artistic style is Archaic. The building celebrates and displays the critical role of Athens in the Persian wars, complete with an exhibition of captured Persian weapons on the South.
Description
A view of the front side of the Athenian Treasury, a doric distyle in antis building with metopes and triglyphs wrapping the top. The metopes depict three scenes, the adventures of Theseus, the adventures of Heracles, and the Greek-Amazonian war, or Amazomachy. It also had sculpted pediments depicting a battle scene on the west and the epiphany of a goddess on the east. Mounted figures sat on the corners of the roof, probably Amazons. On the South (left), lies a triangular limestone base, on which ten statues stood alongside Persian weapons captured at Marathon. The statues depicted the ten eponymous heroes of the Kleisthenic tribes and their number increased with the eponymoi from ten to twelve and eventually to thirteen, requiring a reorganizing of the bases and a recutting of the dedicatory inscription, sometime in the late 3rd century. The date of construction has long been contended, since the Archaic style conflicts with Pausanias' account that it was built after the battle of Marathon. The prevailing view among English and German archaeologists was that the southern base was distinct from the treasury and built later, but excavations in 1989 revealed that the two structures were contemporaneous, proving the account of Pausanias that the structure was built after 490 BCE. It is the most conspicuous treasury of the site today, due to reconstructions in 1906 conducted by French archaeologists and funded by the city of Athens. The reconstructors were able to recover about four fifths of the original stone, but had to adjust the foundations and missed some features, such as the pediment and corner sculptures.
References
Barber, Annabel, Charles Freeman, and Nigel McGilchrist, eds. Greece: The Mainland. 7th ed. 452. London, NY: Blue Guides Ltd., Somerset Books, 2007
Maryl B. Gensheimer. “Metaphors for Marathon in the Sculptural Program of the Athenian Treasury at Delphi.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 86, no. 1 (2017): 1–42. https://doi.org/10.2972/hesperia.86.1.0001
Neer, Richard. “The Athenian Treasury at Delphi and the Material of Politics.” Classical Antiquity 23, no. 1 (2004): 63–93. https://doi.org/10.1525/ca.2004.23.1.63
Image Notes
Photograph created August 9th, 1958. Processing date unknown. Formerly catalogued as B22.064. Notes written on the slide or index: Delphi - Athenian Treasury.
Image Format
35 mm slide
Geographic Reference
Delphi, Greece
Image Location
Rights Statement
