A fine copper engraved view of the 'Propylaea', Acropolis of Athens. With a partial view of the town in the background, from the rare German edition of 'The Antiquities of Athens' by Stuart and Revett, published in Darmstatt 1829/30.
The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis of Athens, and was one of several public works commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles in order to rebuild the Acropolis a generation after the conclusion of the Persian Wars.
Pericles appointed his friend Phidias as the supervisor and lead architect of this massive project, which Pericles allegedly financed with funds appropriated from the treasury of the Delian League. According to Plutarch, the Propylaea was designed by the architect Mnesikles, about whom nothing else is known.
Construction began in 437 BC and was terminated in 432, when the building was still unfinished.
The entrance into the Acropolis was controlled by the Propylaea. Though it was not built as a fortified structure, it was important that people not ritually clean be denied access to the sanctuary. In addition, runaway slaves and other miscreants could not be permitted into the sanctuary where they could claim the protection of the gods.
The state treasury was also kept on the Acropolis, making its security important.

James Stuart and Nicholas Revett, are best known for their central role in pioneering Neoclassicism, and were British architects who traveled in Greece from 1751 to 1754 to record and measure the ancient ruins, particularly those of the Acropolis in Athens. They published their findings in 'The Antiquities of Athens', the first volume of which appeared in 1762.
In England, Revett and Stuart prepared their work for publication and found subscribers for 'The Antiquities of Athens' The project was intended to consist of four volumes, although a supplementary volume also appeared. The illustrations include 368 etched and engraved plates, plans, and maps drawn at scale.
Although their French rival Julien-David Le Roy published his book about ancient Greek monuments 'Les Ruines des plus beaux bâtiments de la Grèce' before 'The Antiquities of Athens', the accuracy of Revett and Stuart's work gives their survey a claim to be the first of its kind in studies of ancient Greece; for example, Revett and Stuart were the first Europeans to describe the existence of ancient Greek polychromy.

The first volume, in which the authors are described as "painters and architects", appeared in 1762/3. Revett gave up his interest in the project after the first volume, but Stuart continued to be involved until his death in 1788. The fourth volume appeared in 1816, the year the Elgin Marbles were acquired by the British government.