The almost total disappearance of the bright and varied colouring which enhanced the beauty of certain parts of the building, and the loss of so many of the wonderful sculptures, as well as the gaps in the walls and colonnade, detract greatly from the ancient glory of the building. But time has added a golden tinge to the Pentelic marble of which it is composed, and the whole exterior wears a rich and mellow aspect,--especially when seen under the light of the rising or the setting sun,--which affords some compensation for the damage sustained in other respects. Very beautiful, too, the temple seems in the light of a full moon, when the soft radiance lends an etherial look to it, standing as it does between heaven and earth, and harmonises well with the virgin purity which the very name _Parthenon_ denotes. The full length of the temple is about 230 feet, and its breadth about 100 feet. It consisted of a _pronaos_ or foretemple, for the reception of votive offerings; the _cella_ proper, forming the new _hecatompedon_, and divided into three long aisles by two rows of Doric columns; the _parthenon_, a name afterwards extended to the whole building, but originally applied to a chamber towards the west; and the _opisthodomos_, enclosed (like the _pronaos_) with high railings between the columns. The two last-mentioned chambers were used as treasuries, but in the middle aisle of the _hecatompedon_ stood the most precious thing of all, namely the chryselephantine image of the virgin-goddess, facing the doorway in the east, so as to catch the rays of the rising sun. The face, hands and feet were covered with ivory, the pupils of the eyes were of precious stone, while the rest of the image was embossed or inlaid with gold--amounting to upwards of forty talents (about £150,000)--which could be taken off when required. The statue was about thirty feet in height and stood on a pedestal about eight feet high, the position of which can easily be recognised from the setting of dark stone in the marble pavement. The line of the parapet in front is also quite distinct. Several descriptions of the statue have come down to us, and also some copies of it in miniature (especially the _Varvakeion_ and _Lenormant_ models, both found in Athens), which, however, give us a very inadequate conception of its beauty and grandeur. It was intended to be an embodiment of the energy, freedom and dignity characteristic of Athena as the representative of the genius of the young Athenian empire. She stood upright, resting her weight upon her right foot, having on her head a helmet with a triple crest, supported by a sphinx, and wearing on her shoulders and breast her scaly ægis with the Gorgon’s head in the centre. Her left hand held a spear, which she rested on the rim of her embossed shield. On the inner side of the shield appeared the sacred serpent, the symbol of Erichthonius, her adopted ward. In her extended right hand she held a beautiful winged Victory.