The Gigantomachy on the Athena Parthenos Shield

Greek Painting in Context - Webinar Series, Ep. 5

Speaker: Jenifer Neils,
American School of Classical Studies

Moderators: Jenifer Neils, American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Dimitris Plantzos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

About the Webinar:

One of the most famous paintings from classical antiquity was that inside the shield of the gold-and-ivory colossal statue of Athena that once stood in the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis. Although now lost, its complex imagery of the gods fighting the giants can be retrieved and reconstructed by a careful examination of late-fifth-century Attic vase painting. This new reconstruction, the first since 1940, was conceived by Professor Jenifer Neils and her students using digital technology. It not only conforms to the better documented composition seen on the outside of shield (a battle with the Amazons), but relates more closely to its wider context, the sculptural program of the entire Parthenon where the Greek gods play a leading role.