OLD GODS IN A NEW WORLD

Nashville's Parthenon celebrates the legacy of sculptor Alan LeQuire past and present.

- MICHAEL PEARCE

Two exhibits at the Parthenon in Nashville celebrate the 35th anniversary of the unveiling of sculptor Alan LeQuire's 42-foot-high recreation of its colossal statue of ancient Athena.

The first show, Goddess in Progress, reveals LeQuire's extensive research into the long-ago lost original, the engineering that supports the enormous weight of the modern sculpture, and the lengthy creative process of shaping the gilded goddess. The second exhibit, titled Monumental Figures, showcases recent work by the artist.

We owe the existence of the world's only full-sized replica of the Parthenon as it stood two and a half thousand years ago in Athens to the wise minds of the last days of the 19th century who guided the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition of 1897, celebrating 100 years of statehood. The organizers of the event hoped to attract vast numbers of visitors to the site, developing business relationships and helping to build the economy-railroad companies were among the principal supporters of the project while it was proposed and organized. During the six months of the exposition 1.75 million visitors passed through the grounds.

1 Alan LeQuire, Ten Torsos.

2 Alan LeQuire standing beside his colossal Athena Parthenos, located inside the Nashville Parthenon.

3 Alan LeQuire unwrapping his new sculpture of Aunt Eleanor, one of many heroic-scale pieces exhibited throughout the naos of the Nashville Parthenon. Monumental Figures, 2025.