Archaic Acropolis Gallery. Sculptures of the pediment of the Gigantomachy (battle between Gods and Giants)

Nikola Benin, Ph.D

In the Archaic Acropolis Gallery are presented the large architectural sculptures of the pediment of the Gigantomachy (battle between Gods and Giants), which decorated the Old Temple, i.e. the second temple of the Goddess Athena on the Acropolis. It has been argued that the temple had an earlier building phase (570 BC), involving the poros sculptures that are now assigned to the Hekatompedon, while the marble sculptures were associated with a renovation by the sons of Peisistratos. It is possible, however, that the temple was built and given its marble sculpted decoration in the last decade of the 6th century BC. The compositions of the pediments consist of larger than life-size statues, carved in Parian marble, which are attributed to the workshop of an important Athenian sculptor, either Antenor or Endoios.