Scarcely less remarkable for its extreme ornamentation was the Athena of the Parthenon. The goddess was represented standing, dressed in a long tunic reaching to her feet, with the ægis on her breast, a helmet on her head, a spear in her left hand, touching a shield which rested at her side upon the base, and holding in her right hand a golden Victory, six feet in height. Her own height was twenty-six cubits, or about forty feet. Her robes were of gold beaten out with the hammer; her eyes were of colored marble or ivory, with gems inserted. Every portion was minutely covered with work. The crest of the helmet was a sphinx, on either side of which were griffins. The ægis was surrounded by golden serpents interlaced, and in its centre was a golden or ivory head of Medusa. The shield was embossed with reliefs, representing on the inner side the battle of the Giants with the Gods, and on the outer side the battle of the Athenians with the Amazons. Beneath the spear was couched a dragon; and even the sandals, which were four dactyls high, were ornamented with chasings representing the battle of the Centaurs with the Lapithæ. The base, which alone occupied months of labor, was covered by reliefs representing the birth of Pandora, and the visit of the divinities to her with their gifts—the figures being some twenty in number. The interior or core of the statue was probably of wood, and over this all the nude parts were veneered with plates of ivory to imitate flesh, while the draperies and accessories were of gold plates so arranged as to be removable at pleasure. Here is certainly work enough to employ any man a very long time in designing and executing. The Victory which Athena held in her hand was of large life-size, and might easily have occupied a year. Besides this, there are the embossed _bassi-relievi_ on both sides of the shield, the ægis, with the Medusa’s head and golden serpents, the dragon at her feet, the sphinx and griffins on her helmet, and the _relievi_ and chasings which ornamented the base and the sandals. Yet these are merely accessories. What, then, must have been the time devoted to the figure itself, to the disposition and working out of those colossal draperies, and to the perfect elaboration of the head, the arms, and the extremities!