The Severan copy of Athena Parthenos and an early 13th century Virgin child are two pieces at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that compare and contrast in several ways. Their historical importance as symbols, their sculptural mediums, styles and dimensions, and their functions make them historically relevant.

The Reduced Replica of Athena Parthenos - at the MFA in Boston is a marble statue which depicts a graceful, robed female icon. The statue has lost both arms, and is dressed in a chiton Athena , also referred to as Minerva, the Maiden, or Parthenos was the Favorite daughter of Zeus. Legend states that she was not generated by any woman with Zeus, but instead leapt out of his head fully grown and armored. Athena is known an the goddess of wisdom, the goddess of the city , the protectress of civilized life, artisan activities , and agricultural bounty. All of these characteristics explain her sculptural likenesses in so many ancient cities in need of dietous protection. 1

This particular piece is of Severan creation. The Severans came to power in the late second century. Marcus Aurelius¹ son

When studying the virgin from it¹s frontal view, the sculpture seems realistically three dimensional, however a profile view reveals that it is hardly more than a high relief. The flattened back, probably to rest against an altar , give the piece a shallow appearance from a profile or from a corner perspective. The Virgin¹s pose is made very rigid by a tall upper body, an exact bilateral symmetry , and also the fact that her extremities are smoothly and gracefully contained in an outer shape or contour. These features make the piece characteristic of what Hanns Swarzenski - an art scholar of the early 1900¹s who wrote for the Museum of Fine Arts during the time that it acquired the virgin- noted as the ³1200 style². 6

The Virgin and Child is an oak sculpture of the sacred religious icons enthroned in a frontal pose. She is crowned and robed in lavish garments as the baby Jesus sits stiffly and astutely on her left thigh. A line on the baby¹s head suggests that he once wore a crown as his mother does. Also missing is the virgin¹s right hand. The two are rest on an oval throne that creates a trefoil shaped base beneath her feet. This image of the Virgin and Child upon the trefoil based throne is known a the Throne of Wisdom for the Incarnate World, or Sedes Sapientiae . 4

Dimensionally, Athena stands at a larger scale than any human- also minding that this is a reduced replica, while the Boston Virgin is sixty one inches from base to crown. The virgins size is roughly the size of a woman, emphasizing that she was indeed a real woman. Like her godlike stature insists, Athena towers over those she protects. The dimensions of these sculptures speak volumes about the subjects personalities and roles.

Athena¹s pose is blurred by the fact that she has no arms. Most other references to Athena show her holding the Aegis- Zeus¹ terrible shield, and his devastating weapon, the Ray. 9 In most instances her arms hold the weapons on the ground in front of her as she always stands, proud , in a warrior -like fashion. Her arms must have been extended in some way off of her body or else they wouldn¹t have been dismembered. The Boston Virgin -as always- stoically sits on a throne. The only thing she seems to be poised over is her infant son. These postural variations describe the personality and role differences in these two subjects. Athena stands high in order to protect and defend at any given moment, while the virgin sits in an almost monarchal pose as the care giver to the son of god. Although the Athena Parthenos in Boston is rigid and tall, her pose is naturalistic in comparison to the virgin whose extremely long torso tower over the baby Jesus whose torso is also extremely long. The virgin and Baby also collect their extremities close to their sides to create an intact , solid form, which makes Athena seem less static . If Athena had her

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Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)