Wolfson SF Professor Juan de Lara has unravelled one of the great, millennia-long mysteries of classical architecture: the lighting system of the Parthenon, the iconic temple dedicated to the goddess Athena in the Greek capital of her same name.

His ground-breaking discovery is the result of a four-year multidisciplinarystudy combining archaeology, 3D technology, and optics, with support from UCL and LAHP (The London Arts and Humanities Partnership). The findings have been recently published in the leading scientific journal on Classical archaeology, The Annual of the British School at Athens. A video entitled ‘Illuminating the Parthenon’ can be viewed here.

Using 3D reconstructions and calculations based on physical simulations of light and its reflection on various surfaces, De Lara has precisely recreated how both natural and artificial lighting interacted with the elements of the Parthenon, including the colossal ivory and gold statue designed by the sculptor Phidias in 438 BCE. From complex roof openings and interior water basins to strategically positioned windows and the use of finely polished marble, all these elements worked together to create an effect that gave the sensation that the deity, bedecked in her golden attire, emerged from the shrouding darkness.

For the virtual reconstruction of the Parthenon, De Lara used state-of-the-art digital tools, achieving a recreation of the temple’s structure with a fractional margin of error of just 2cm compared to the original. The highly detailed model also included the statue of Athena, with all surfaces assigned their precise material properties, including light reflection indices.

Using values from the 5^th century BCE, De Lara processed calculations of the sun’s position at different times of the day and year as light entered the temple’s eastwards-oriented door.

This ground-breaking approach has all-but-confirmed that the interior space was generally dark, and that it was meant to evoke and transmit reverence in that toned-down atmosphere. Yet he also discovered that the sun most likely appeared on the horizon during the weeks before and after the famous procession in honour of the goddess of wisdom, Athena: The Panathenaic Festival, which took place every four years in the summer. During several days in the morning, the sun would have been aligned on precisely the same axis as the door to illuminate the statue, creating a shimmering beacon of her ivory and gold surface. 

Professor Juan de Lara

De Lara adds “To unlock the full potential of archaeological discoveries, we must keep embracing technology and digital tools as essential partners in exploration and research.”

For more information on the project, the link to the journal can be found here.