ENQUIRE ABOUT THE WEST FRONT OF THE PARTHENON
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Signed and inscribed l.r.: PARTHENON/ATHENS. W. PAGE, pen and brown ink over traces of graphite
65.5 x 94.8 cm
This meticulously observed drawing, made with the aid of a camera obscura, shows a close-up view of the western front of the Parthenon, with the sculpted frieze depicting Amazons fighting Greeks shown in detail. The two statues of the daughters of Kekrops, which stayed on the building until about 1980, can be seen on the pediment.
A large, finished watercolour of this view (measuring 66 x 101.5 cm and signed and dated1841), with carefully drawn architectural detail, was presumably based on the present drawing, and is now in the collection of the American School of Classical Studies, Gennadius Library, Athens. This is almost certainly Page’s signed and dated Royal Academy exhibit of 1841, no. 1106, The west front of the Parthenon.
The present drawing and catalogue no. 3 appear to be unique in Page’s known oeuvre, both for their large size and for being done on the spot.
