The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, is a full-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece, including the monumental statues of the Gods along the pediment. When the statues needed restoration, The Armbruster Company provided research, drawings, in-situ modeling of lost material, intermediate molds and documentation. 65 components on the monumental figures had to be reproduced where concrete had deteriorated from corrosion of reinforcing steel that was too close to the concrete’s surface.
While finishing the polychrome mosaic concrete cladding on the Parthenon in 1928, Earley Studio produced the statues using multi-piece molds of plaster cast from clay models created by the sculptor. John Earley used the plaster molds to cast hollow shells of exposed aggregate concrete for portions of each figure. For example, on the largest figures the sections were the legs, torso, arms, head and a small closure element from the top of the head. Piece by piece, the hollow sections were lifted up into position on the pediment where steel reinforcing rods and concrete grout were installed within the hollow voids to lock the segments together. For the statues’ restoration, similar assemblies of hollow mosaic concrete components, steel rods and grout were used to replace the damaged elements.
